Figure 8
by NicoleSalvatore1918
Summary: All Riley Daniels ever wanted was a normal life. When Stefan Salvatore comes to Mystic Falls her life gets turned upside down and it is anything but normal. From vampires to werewolves and curses to doppelgängers; Riley remains strong. But when a secret about her life comes into the light, Riley doesn't know how to accept the truth and turns to the only person she trusts. S/OC/T
1. Pilot

**Hello everyone! This is my new story that I made. It goes off of the show, starting from first season until the end (hopefully). I really hope that you guys like this story because I really like it. **

**In this story, it doesn't center around Elena. It centers around a girl named Riley who is very special. She doesn't know it yet though. You'll find out more if you read and stay tuned for further chapters. (;**

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries. I only own my OC characters (Riley and Scarlett) and the plot line. **

* * *

**Pilot**

With a sigh I trudged down the stairs of my house, anxious to get this day over with already. I didn't want to go to the first day of my junior year. I wanted it to be summer again. I wanted to be with my grandmother on the West Coast, lounging in the summer sun all day. I wanted to sleep in late and party until dawn, but sadly, reality had to set in and bring me back to school in the little town of Mystic Falls.

I didn't really mind this town but it certainly wasn't my favorite town. It was a quaint little town and nothing ever happened here. I just wanted something interesting to happen for once.

"Morning," my mother, Shannon, greeted me as I walked into the kitchen to grab my cup of coffee. I grumbled a "hello" and sat down at the bar, taking a sip of the coffee that my mom had sitting out for me already. "It's your first day of junior year. Are you excited?"

"Not as excited as you are, mom," I replied.

"Riley," my mother scolded. "Be nice."

"Sorry, mom," I apologized.

My mother was a very chipper person who always saw the bright side in things. I, however, was like my father who overthought everything and thought more on the negative side. My father had left me and my mother five years ago to be with some other woman and their son who lived in Montana. My mother was heartbroken and I was angry. I didn't speak to him when he called and I never accepted his gifts when he sent them. I wanted him to know that I was mad at him for leaving. But my mother and I managed and here we are today.

"You get to see Tyler after the long summer," my mom pointed out. "That's something to look forward to."

"I'm glad I get to see him," I said. "I really missed him."

My boyfriend Tyler and I had been together for about a year now. It was amazing in the beginning but then it started to get a little rocky because I would always call him out on flirting with Vicki Donovan and he would deny it. I had heard the rumors that they had slept together but chose to ignore them for the time being.

There was honk that came from outside my house and I shot up from the counter and grabbed my red leather tote bag. I looked in the mirror that hung in the hallway and checked to make sure that my caramel hair wasn't frizzy and that it looked somewhat decent. When I was content with my reflection, I looked down at my outfit quickly. I had on a grey sweatshirt and black jeans. Today I was focused on being relaxed. Happy with my appearance, I turned around and kissed my mother on the cheek before bidding her goodbye and running out the door to see Bonnie Bennett in her car, waiting for me.

Smiling, I ran to the car and jumped in the passenger seat to see that Elena Gilbert and Scarlett Christianson were in the back seat. Elena looked like her usual self with her straight brown hair and brown eyes. She had a red shirt on with a leather jacket covering it, giving her that edgy look. Scarlett had her brown hair curled. Her green eyes held a sparkle and her lips were smiling. She had on plain white t-shirt with ripped jeans. Bonnie had a light blue shirt with a purple blazer on top of it. A scarf hung from her neck and her light brown hair was straight, framing her face perfectly.

"Hey guys," I greeted them.

"Hey," Elena and Scarlett greeted at the same time.

"So how was your summer at your grandmother's?" Bonnie asked. "Were there any cute guys?"

"Bonnie!" Elena squealed with a giggle.

"What?" she asked. "I just wanted to know."

"I wasn't looking, Bonnie Bennett," I teased. "I'm perfectly fine with Tyler."

"Oh, we know," Scarlett groaned.

"Whatever," I said, dismissing the conversation with my hand. "What did you guys do over the summer?"

"I slept in everyday and loved it," Scarlett said with a laugh at the end.

"I just stayed home and helped Jenna settle in," Elena said with a sad sigh. At the end of last year, Elena's parents died when their car fell off of Wickery Bridge.

"I stayed with Grams all summer," Bonnie said, diverging the conversation from the depressing road that it was heading down. "And all summer, she has been telling me that I'm psychic. Our ancestors were from Salem, which isn't all that – I know, crazy – but she's going on and _on _about it, and I like, put this woman in a home already!"

We all laughed at this.

"But then I started thinking," Bonnie continued. "I predicted Obama and I predicted Heath Ledger, and I still think Florida will break off and turn into little resort islands."

"Okay, then predict something," I challenged.

"I see us having a kick ass year," Bonnie exclaimed with a smile on her face.

"Well that's a given," Scarlett said.

"Fine, I predict that all the sad and dark time are over and we are going to be beyond happy," Bonnie said, going further in depth.

"I'd drink to that!" Elena cried out.

Bonnie, Scarlett, and I yelled in agreement and we laughed the entire way to Mystic Falls High, where our lives would go back to normal.

We all piled out of the car and made our way into the school, greeting everyone who waved or talked to us.

"Major lack of male real estate," Scarlett commented, scooping out the boys on campus already.

"Maybe for you, but not for me," I said, seeing Tyler Lockwood, my boyfriend of a year running towards me. His dark hair was cut short and he was wearing his football letterman jacket with pride.

I had a huge smile on my face and I opened my arms for him when he was right in front of me. Grabbing me from under my arms, Tyler picked me up and spun me around, causing a scream of surprise come out of my throat. Setting me down on the ground, Tyler hugged me and kissed my cheek.

"I missed you over the summer," he said when he pulled away from the hug.

"I missed you, too, Ty," I replied, pecking his lips.

"I'll see you later, alright? I have to go talk to Tanner about practice," Tyler said.

I nodded my head and watched him run off into the building.

"I don't understand boys' obsession with football," Scarlett said.

"I don't either," I replied with a chuckle.

"Ew! Look at the shower curtain on Kelly Beach," Bonnie remarked as we all walked into the school building. "She looks a hot – can I still say "tranny mess"?"

We reached our lockers that were all within a couple feet of each other's and dumped our stuff into them.

"No, I think that's over," Elena answered.

"Find a man, coin a phrase," Scarlett added.

"It's a busy year," Bonnie said, looking across the hallway. All of us looked over to see Matt Donovan – who was wearing his normal letterman jacket and jeans – who was staring at Elena with no emotion. She let out a sigh and turned to face us once more.

"He hates me," she groaned, leaning against the lockers.

"That's not hate," I said, trying to comfort her. "That's 'we're on a break, but I'm too cool to show that it's hurting'."

"Elena," a familiar voice called out. "Oh, my God. How are you? Oh, it's so good to see you. How is she? Is she good?" Caroline Forbes – another one of my close friends – asked, turning to Bonnie, Scarlett, and I.

Today, Caroline had her blonde hair curled and a blue top on to draw attention to her face. It was a very cute top and blue seemed to do her justice.

"Caroline, I'm right here," Elena said. "And I'm fine. Thank you."

"Really?" Caroline pushed.

"Yes. Much better."

"You poor thing," Caroline sighed, grabbing Elena in a tight hug.

"Okay, Caroline," Elena said in a strained voice.

Caroline pulled away and nodded her head at all of us.

"Okay, see you guys later?"

"Sure thing," I said. "Bye, Care."

After Caroline was far enough away, Elena let out a sigh of frustration.

"No comment from anyone."

"We weren't going to say anything," Scarlett said, putting her hands up in defense.

* * *

Scarlett and Elena had stopped at other classrooms to talk with other people while Bonnie and I continued on towards the history classroom. As we passed the front office, Bonnie grabbed my elbow and pulled me to a halt.

"Hold up. Who's this?" she asked, looking in the office. I followed her line of vision and saw a boy standing with his back to us.

"All I see is his back, Bonnie," I said.

"It's a hot back," she commented, making me chuckle. "I'm sensing Seattle, and he plays the guitar."

I scoffed and shook my head at her. "You're really going to run this whole psychic thing into the ground, huh?" I asked.

"Pretty much," Bonnie said with a smile on her face.

I looked down the hallway and saw Jeremy Gilbert, Elena's little brother disappear into the bathroom. I rolled my eyes, knowing that he was up to no good. I didn't want to step into his life though and give him a reason to hate me. Bonnie turned her head to see where I was looking and saw Jeremy as well.

"Oh, my God," she sighed. "Lord help this boy." She took off after him and followed him into the bathroom to talk some sense into him.

I stared at the bathroom door, waiting for Bonnie to run out screaming but was surprised when I saw guys fleeing the bathroom. I gave a small chuckle and turned back around to face the front office, only to bump into someone in the process. My hands shot up to the person's chest to catch myself from falling.

"Uh, pardon me," a kind voice said, making me look up at the boy I bumped into. When I looked up, I was met with a beautiful pair of green eyes that glimmered in the florescent lighting. His eyes were stunning and piercing. My eyes travelled down a little further to see that he had a sharp nose and high cheek bones. His lips were in a straight line and he looked cautious. All in all, this boy was handsome.

"I'm so sorry," I apologized, letting go of his shirt and taking a step back. "I should have been paying more attention."

"No, no," he reassured. "It's all good. It was entirely my fault."

"Well, I should probably get to class now," I said.

"Would you mind helping me find my first class?" the boy asked kindly.

"Sure," I responded. "What class do you have?"

"History with Tanner," he replied.

"No way. I have that, too," I said, with a smile on my face. "I'll walk with you to class."

"Thanks," the boy said.

I gave him a smile before motioning forward and walking to Tanner's class with the new student.

* * *

It was the end of the day finally and I was going to walk home from school since Bonnie, Scarlett, Elena, and Caroline were all staying after school to work on the cheerleading team. I had no desire to be a part of a sport since I despised physical activity. Tyler had agreed to meet me at the Grill with the rest of the gang later on tonight to celebrate our first day.

As I was walking off campus, I looked down at my phone to read the text messages that Scarlett had spammed me with in first period today. I was about to open one of the texts when I collided with someone for the second time today.

I let out a shriek as I felt myself falling backwards but felt a strong pair of arms wrap around my waist to pull me upwards. I looked up to see who was responsible for saving me and was surprised to see the boy I bumped into earlier.

"We've got to stop meeting like this," he joked as he stood me up and took his arms off of my waist.

"Agreed," I laughed, brushing a strand of my hair behind my ear. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been looking down at my phone while I was walking. It's not a good thing to do when you're uncoordinated."

The boy laughed and nodded his head.

"That's fine. I'm Stefan, by the way."

"I know," I replied. "I'm Riley. We have History together."

"And English and French," Stefan added, nodding his head.

"Right," I smiled.

"What's so interesting on your phone?" he asked me.

"Oh, it's nothing. My friend just decided to spastically text me during the middle of first period and I put off reading them until now," I answered.

He gave me a small smile and nodded his head.

I looked down at his hand and saw a ring on his right hand. It was big and bulky but it had a nice design on it.

"Nice ring," I commented.

"It's a family ring," he said. "I'm kind of stuck with it. It's weird, huh?"

"No, no. It's just, I mean there are rings and then there's that," I said, letting out a light laugh at the end to Stefan know that I meant no harm. "So what brings you to Mystic Falls?"

"I have family here," Stefan responded. "I'm visiting and finishing up school."

"That's cool," I said while nodding my head.

There was an awkward silence as Stefan and I stood there for a moment staring at the other.

"Okay, well, I'm going to head home, Stefan," I started. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow in class."

"Bye Riley," he said. "See you around."

With that, we both parted ways and I headed home.

* * *

"I'm meeting everybody at the Grill," I told my mom as I rushed down the stairs, to the front door.

"Alright have fun," she said, not caring what I do. My mom was one of those parents who let their kids do whatever just as long as they stayed out of trouble. I waved goodbye and opened the front door, about to step out of the house when I came face to face with Stefan.

"Oh," I gasped.

"Sorry, I was about to knock," he said.

"How did you know where I lived?" I asked him, looking around to see if anyone from school was here with him.

"It's a small town," he said as if he was stating the obvious. "I asked the first person I saw."

I nodded my head, not knowing whether that was a little stalker-ish or not.

"Um, I thought you might want this back," Stefan said, reaching down into his front pocket. He pulled his hand out to reveal my grandmother's ring that I always carried with me even when I wasn't wearing it.

"Oh, it must have fell out of my bag when I bumped into you after school," I said, reaching out to take the ring from his hand. "Thank you."

"Now we both have our rings," he teased.

I laughed at his joke and smiled up at him after I slipped the ring on to my finger.

"Sorry, were you going somewhere?" Stefan asked me.

"Yeah, I'm meeting my friends. Do you want to maybe come with me?" I asked him, wanting to be friendly to the new student. He smiled at me and nodded his head.

"I would like that," he replied.

"Alright," I said, stepping out on to the porch besides Stefan. I closed the front door and motioned to my car that was sitting in the driveway. "Shall we?"

* * *

Walking into the Mystic Grill with Stefan next to me, I was greeted by classmates. I smiled at them and looked around the place for my friends. I smiled when I saw Scarlett, Bonnie, Elena, Caroline, and Matt all sitting in a large booth but my smile faltered when I over just a bit to see Tyler with his hands on Vicki's waist.

"Is everything okay?" Stefan asked from beside me, sensing that I was uncomfortable

"Um, could you excuse me for a moment?" I asked, turning back to him.

He nodded his head and I gave him a forced smile before I walked over to Tyler and Vicki who were oblivious to the fact that I was right behind them. I took a deep breath before I reached out and tapped Tyler on the shoulder. Instantly, his arms fell from Vicki's waist and he turned around to face me.

"Riley," he muttered, trailing off. It was clear that he didn't think that he was going to get caught.

"So there's nothing going on here, right?" I asked him, crossing my arms over my chest. "This isn't what it looks like, right, Ty?"

"Riley, I can explain," Tyler said quickly.

"I'm waiting," I said to him, wanting to hear his excuse for this.

"I-I-I was just asking Vicki for pointers on Trig," he stuttered.

"Right, because asking for help in a class involves touching someone's waist," I spat. "And it would make perfect sense to ask for pointers in a class when that person dropped out within the first week."

"Riley—" I cut Tyler off.

"Save it, Tyler!" I shouted, throwing my hands up in the air. I didn't really care if I was making a scene. All I could focus on was my anger and resentment. I couldn't believe that he would touch Vicki like that out in public and then deny it whenever I would bring it up. My eyes started to water and I shook my head. "We're over, Lockwood."

"Riley, wait," he tried to stop me.

"No!" I snapped. "Leave me alone."

Turning on my heel, I stormed away from Tyler and ran out of the Grill, wanting nothing more than to go home and cry.

* * *

"The battle at Willow Creek took place right at the end of the war in our very own Mystic Falls," Coach Tanner said, droning on and on.

All I wanted to do at the moment was go home and curl up in my bed. I was still hurt from what happened last night and on top of that all, I bailed on my friends and left Stefan to fend for himself. Last night I cried myself to sleep and woke up late which resulted in me throwing on the first pair of jeans I found, a black cami, and a jacket to cover the cami. My hair got thrown up in a messy bun and I rushed to school only to come to class to get lectured about a war that has nothing to do with life today. You could say that I was not off to a great start today.

"Miss Daniels?"

I snapped out of my state of mind and looked up at Tanner who was standing in front of me.

"Could you repeat the question?" I asked him.

"Pay attention, Miss Daniels," Coach snapped at me. "Life isn't just going to sit around and let you experience it at your own pace."

"There were three hundred and sixty-four casualties, unless you're counting local civilians," Stefan spoke up from the back of the classroom. I turned to see him give me a warm smile which I returned with a half-smile.

"That's correct," Tanner said. "Mister…"

"Salvatore."

"Salvatore," Coach Tanner repeated. "Any relation to the original settlers here at Mystic Falls?"

"Distant," Stefan answered.

"Well, very good," Tanner praised. "Except there were no civilian casualties in this battle."

"Actually, there were twenty-seven, sir," Stefan argued. "Confederate soldiers, they fired on the church, believing it to be housing weapons. They were wrong. It was a night of great loss." Tanner was silent. "The Founder's Archives are stored in Civil Hall if you'd like to brush up on your facts," Stefan said.

The class choked back laughter as Tanner seethed in his seat.

* * *

At lunch, I sat at an empty table and was soon joined by none other than Stefan Salvatore.

"Is everything okay? You left as soon as we got to the Grill last night," he said with a caring tone of voice.

"No, actually," I responded. "My boyfriend has been cheating on me and I finally put an end to it last night."

"I'm sorry," Stefan said.

"Don't be," I told him. "It was about time I did anyway. Can we talk about something else? I don't really want to spend the rest of the day thinking about what happened."

"Sure," Stefan replied. "Ask me anything you'd like to know."

"So were you born in Mystic Falls?" I asked him.

Stefan nodded his head. "I moved when I was young."

"Parents?"

"My parents passed away," he said in a somewhat sad tone.

"I'm sorry… Any siblings?" I questioned, changing the subject to a lighter note.

"None that I talk to," he answered. "I live with my uncle."

I nodded my head and stared at Stefan while he started at me in silence. Our staring was broken by Scarlett slamming her books on the table across from us. She sat down on the bench and adjusted the scarf that hung from her neck.

"The party tonight," she started. "You're going, Riley. It's the only way that you're going to stay out of your bed and wallow tonight."

"Party?" Stefan asked, slightly confused.

"It's a back-to-school thing at the Falls," I informed him before turning back to Scarlett. "I really don't want to go, Scar."

"Well too bad. You have to make yourself available and give these guys a shot," she joked. "So toughen up and be ready by seven. I'll pick you up."

I turned to Stefan and gave him a slight smile.

"Would you like to go to the party?" I asked him.

"Why not," he said with a smile on his lips.

"It's in the woods behind the school," I told him. "It starts at seven but we don't go there until seven thirty. I'll meet you there?"

"Sounds good," he responded.

"Great," I said with a smile forming on my lips.

* * *

Standing near the bonfire that was placed in the middle of the woods, Bonnie, Scarlett, and I were all talking while Caroline and Elena were off talking with other people. The three of us were drinking, beers in hand.

"So, I noticed that you and Stefan were getting close in the cafeteria today," Scarlett teased.

"Yeah, and you two came to the Grill together last night," Bonnie pointed out. "What was all that about?"

"You mean why did I bring him to be nice and then leave him right after I broke up with Tyler?" I asked them, still feeling crappy about the break up.

"You need to move on, Riley," Bonnie pressed. "You need to move on with someone else."

"Someone like Stefan," Scarlett said.

"Oh, my God," I groaned, knowing where this was going.

"Isn't he just _so _good looking?" Scarlett pressured.

"No," I said, shaking my head at the two. "We aren't going to be doing that."

"Just admit it, Riley," Bonnie pushed.

"Ok, fine, so he's a little pretty," I admitted.

"He has that romance novel stare," Scarlett gushed.

"Stefan looked deep into her eyes, piercing her very soul," Bonnie said in a mock-narrator voice.

"Well, if he is supposed to be my _lover,_" I said, joking around. "Then where is he?"

"Oh, Bonnie use your psychic powers," Scarlett said with a smile on her face.

Bonnie laughed and nodded her head agreeing to use the powers that she claimed to have.

"Wait! You need a crystal ball, or at least something close to it," I said, sticking my hand out with my beer bottle in hand. With a roll of her eyes, Bonnie latched her hand on to mine that was holding the beer bottle. Her eyes widened and she stiffened, starting at me with fear. I looked over at Scarlett to see if she knew what was happening but she just shrugged with a worried look in her eyes.

Bonnie pulled her hand away and took a step back.

"What?" I asked her.

"That was weird," she muttered. "When I touched you, I saw a wolf."

"What?" I asked her, confused beyond all.

"A wolf," she stated. "There was the full moon, fog, and a man."

I gave her a confused look and tried to understand what she saw.

"I'm drunk," she said, blaming it all on the alcohol in hand. "It's the drinking. There's nothing psychic about it."

Scarlett and I shared a look of confusion and watched as Bonnie scurried away.

"Bonnie!" Scarlett shouted, trying to get her to come back. Turning to me, Scarlett placed a hand on my shoulder. "I'm going to make sure that she's fine."

I nodded my head and watched the two of them disappear into the dark woods. I turned back around to face the fire but came face to face with Stefan.

"Hi," he greeted with a smile on his face.

I let out a chuckle and shook my head, clearing my thoughts of the conversation that I had with Bonnie and Scarlett.

"Hi," I said with a smile.

"You're upset about something," Stefan observed.

"No, it's Bonnie," I told him. "She's…" I shook my head, diverging from the conversation. "You know what? Never mind. You're here!"

"I'm here," Stefan repeated with a smile. "I told you that I would come."

We smiled at each other and started for a couple more minutes. His eyes were so green and I found myself getting lost in them. They just seemed so deep and they were hypnotizing almost. When I realized that I was slowly moving towards him, I stopped in my tracks and turned around, motioning to the bridge that crossed over the river.

"Want to take a walk?"

"I'd like that," Stefan said with a nod.

I turned around and started to walk towards the bridge with Stefan on my left side.

"You know, you're kind of the talk of the town," I told him after I took a sip from my beer bottle.

"Am I?"

"Yes," I said with a nod, looking up at him. "Mysterious new guy. Nothing ever happens in this town so everyone is chomping at the bit."

Stefan chuckled and slid his hands into his front pockets.

"Well, I'm surprised that you would want to talk to me with all the talk that's going on. You never know, I could be a serial killer," Stefan joked.

I let out a laugh and threw my head back.

"You're right," I said, turning my attention back to him. "I barely know anything about you."

"I barely know anything about _you_," Stefan countered.

"Okay," I said, thinking of something to tell him. "I live alone with my mom. My dad left us five years ago to be with the woman he was cheating on my mom with so my mom and I are really close now. Uh, I just broke up with my boyfriend of about a year because he is a man whore. And I spent my summer on the West Coast with my grandmother."

Stefan nodded his head and then he started. "Well, you already know that I have family here and that I don't speak to my siblings. Let's see… I have a journal that I write in."

"You have a journal?" I asked him.

He nodded his head and explained. "I think memories are too important." Stefan paused and looked down at me. At this point we had stopped walking and I was now leaning against the railing on the bridge. I nodded my head in agreement with his statement.

"I always thought about keeping a diary, but it never really worked out," I told Stefan. "I would get a clean notebook to write in and I would write in it daily for about three days and then I would lose interest."

Stefan chuckled and shook his head.

"All my friends tell me that I can't stay with something for a while without getting bored."

"I like Bonnie and Scarlett," Stefan said. "They seem like good friends."

"They are the greatest. I love them so much," I said.

"And then there's Tyler. He can't seem to, uh, take his eyes away from us," Stefan said, looking over at the party. I followed his gaze and saw Tyler standing to the side with Vicki right next to him. He was glaring at Stefan and I scoffed at his childish antics.

"Tyler was the friend that you have always had a small crush on. Then one day he comes up to you and asks you out. And of course you're going to agree because you have always liked him. But then you realized slowly that he wasn't the guy you thought he was."

"And?" Stefan asked, knowing that there was more to this than just that.

"And I stayed with him for a year. I called him out a few times for flirting but he would deny it. And I would believe it because I was a love struck fool. But the passion faded for him and one thing led to another and now he is with Matt's older sister who is bound to string him along until she gets what she wants."

"You still care about him?" Stefan asked.

"Yeah," I stared, turning my gaze down to the empty beer bottle in my hand. "A part of me always will. But right now, I'm too hurt to do anything. I guess what he did reminds me of my dad too much."

"I'm sorry," Stefan said.

I looked up to tell him that it was alright but noticed that his eyes were different. They were bloodshot and there seemed to be veins popping out ever so slightly under his eyes.

"Hey, um, are you okay?" I asked him. "You're eyes…"

"Oh. It's nothing," Stefan said, rubbing his eyes with his hands. "Are you thirsty? I'm going to go get us a drink." Stefan walked away quickly back towards the party, leaving me alone on the bridge flustered.

* * *

Wandering around the party looking for Stefan, I bumped into someone's shoulder and turned to see Tyler. I tensed up and started to back away from him but was stopped when he grabbed my elbow.

"Looking for someone?" he asked me. "Maybe that new kid."

"Just be quiet, Tyler," I said in a harsh tone.

"When we broke up, was it because you wanted to mess around with him?" Tyler questioned, talking about Stefan.

"No, Tyler," I snapped. "I broke up with you because you were cheating on me."

"You only saw me putting my hands on her waist," Tyler defended. "How did you know that I wasn't giving her a hug?"

"You don't grab someone's waist, stand there for a minute, and then hug someone, Ty. I'm not stupid. I did what I did so I could protect myself from getting hurt by you later on down the road," I said. "I'm not sorry for breaking up with you."

Tyler tightened his grip on my elbow, making me wince a bit in pain.

"I'm not going to let you go that easily, Riley. That boy can't just walk into our lives and steal you from me," Tyler spat.

"He's not _stealing _me from you. I'm not some piece of property. Just leave me alone Tyler."

Letting go of my arm, Tyler backed away with his hands up in the air.

"Tell that boy to watch his back," Tyler warned.

I rolled my eyes and turned around, walking over to a bench that was located on the edge of the small clearing. I sat down on the damp wood and crossed my arms over my chest, leaning my elbows on my knees.

I was pissed at Tyler. What gave him the right to say any of that to me? He didn't own me. And what was with him thinking that Stefan was stealing me away from him? I _just _met Stefan yesterday. Tyler had some anger problems – that much is known to the entire town – but that doesn't allow him to go all territorial over someone who just broke up with him.

"Somebody help!" Elena's voice cried out, making everyone become quiet and turn their heads to see what was going on.

I looked over in her direction and saw Elena carrying Vicki's limp body with Jeremy's help. I gasped in horror and shock, shooting up from my seat. I dashed over towards her and Matt was by my side at an instant.

"Vicki?" he asked. "Vicki, what the hell?"

Not a moment later, Tyler was by my side, looking down at the girl.

"What happened to her?" I asked, brushing her hair out of the gash on her neck. All that was running through my mind at the second was the thought of Vicki dying. I didn't care that she was the girl that Tyler was cheating on me with. She was Matt's sister.

"Someone, call an ambulance!" Matt yelled.

"Everybody back up, give her some space," Tyler shouted, making people move out of the way.

"It's her neck," Elena screamed out. Scarlett was now with us and she was panting. "Something bit her. She's losing a lot of blood."

"Put this on her neck," Jeremy said, taking off his jacket and forcing it into my hands. I pressed the cloth to her neck to stop the blood from coming out as fast. I held her head in my hands while everyone else tried to shake her awake.

"Vicki, Vicki, come on," Matt said.

"Open your eyes," Scarlett pleaded.

"Look at me," Jeremy insisted.

"Come on, Vicki," I cried out.

The sound of sirens filled the air and the teenagers surrounding us parted like the Red Sea to let the men come and take Vicki into the ambulance. They put her body on a gurney and rolled her over to the truck fast, pushing her inside.

Matt followed behind them eager to stay with his sister. He hopped in the back of the truck with Vicki and soon the ambulance peeled out of the woods and headed back to town.

Tyler and Jeremy left in Tyler's car to go to the hospital and Scarlett had left with Caroline, Bonnie, and Elena to go to the Grill and wait for some news.

I called my mom and asked her to come pick me up so I could go home and try to forget everything that happened today.

* * *

Sitting on my window seat, I looked out into my front yard as I huddled in my blanket. It was dark out and everything was peaceful for the time being. I thought about all that happened tonight and tried to process what was going on. In these past two days, it seemed as if my life had started to slip from my control.

I broke up with Tyler.

I met Stefan who was mysterious and seemed to loom wherever I went.

Vicki, the girl Tyler was messing around with, got attacked by an animal it seemed.

It just seemed as if everything was beginning to get chaotic.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a figure appear in my front yard and I looked over at it to see Stefan standing in my front yard, looking up at me. I threw the blanket that I had on me off and stood up, rushing towards the front door. When I opened the oak door, I saw Stefan standing there with his hands in his pockets with his green eyes gleaming in the porch light.

"I know it's late," he said. "But I needed to know that you were okay."

"I'm fine," I breathed out, shaking my head.

"Are you sure?" he asked in a caring tone.

My eyes flickered down to the ground and then back up to him.

"It's warmer in the house. We can talk," I told him, stepping away from the doorway. "Would you like to come in?"

Stefan nodded his head and gave me a smile before answering. "Yes."

I welcomed him in and shut the door behind him, leading him to the couch where we talked for a couple of hours.

* * *

**Thank you so much for reading! The outfits for this chapter are linked in my bio towards the end. **

**I'm eager to know what you guys thought! Leave a review telling me what you thought and I'll be sure to get back to you and update sooner. **

**If you guys have the time, go check out my other stories and let me know what you think about those as well. **

**Thanks!**

**-NS1918 xoxo**


	2. The Night of the Comet

**Hello, there! **

**I have a few things to say before I start off. **

**First, I am aware that I am going off of the episodes with dialogue at the moment. It is going to remain so until Riley learns about vampires in "Lost Girls" which is four episodes away. I will be adding different scenes here and there in every chapter and I will be changing up some of the dialogue. But I really have to wait until the plot ****_really _****kicks in to start veering off of the dialogue. **

**Second, I'm sorry if you don't like who I chose my characters to be. I'm not going to change them. If it bothers you that much, feel free to imagine someone else as the character or what ever else floats your boat. I think these women fit the roles perfectly and I'm not going to change them. Sorry. **

**Third, Riley will be nothing like Elena when the plot thickens; I can promise you that. Her character is going to grow in these next chapters and you will see more of where she is coming from. **

**Thanks for continuing to read this story!**

**Please refer to the Disclaimer in the first chapter.**

**Enjoy! xx**

* * *

**The Night of the Comet**

Waking up this morning was easier than I thought it would be. I had been taking the breakup moderately fine. I thought I would wake up and feel a small weight fall on to my shoulders the second that a thought about Tyler would pop into my head. But I didn't. My thoughts didn't automatically float to Tyler. Instead, they drifted off towards a certain someone that I had grown quiet close to in the twenty-four hours; Stefan Salvatore.

After I threw on a blue dress that I recently got, I shoved my feet into my black flats and rushed down the stairs, greeting my mom with a kiss on her cheek before leaving the house. I jumped into my white Toyota Camry, pulled out of the driveway after starting the car, and headed for school where I was going to meet Scarlett, Bonnie, and Caroline before school.

As I pulled into the parking lot of the school, I shut the engine off and exited my car, only to bump into someone after I shut my door. My tote bag flew from my arms and I let out a groan before slowly dropping to my knees to gather the papers that flew out of my bag.

"Maybe you should watch where you're going next time," I snapped at the person, not even bothering to look up to see who it was.

"Relax, Riles," a familiar deep voice chuckled.

My shoulders tensed and I could feel my heartbeat get caught in my throat. Slowly, I looked up to see Tyler standing in front of me with his signature smirk on his face. Oh, how I wanted to punch him right in the jaw. It wasn't like he didn't deserve it for all that he has done.

"Don't call me that, Tyler," I spat, pushing myself off of the ground after I gathered everything and shoved it back into my bag. Once I was standing upright in front of him, I crossed my arms over my chest and huffed. "What do you want?"

"I just want to talk," he said, shrugging his shoulders while his smirk never faltered.

"Well, can this wait until later?" I asked. "I kind of have somewhere to be." I tried walking around him, but Tyler caught me by my upper arm and held me in place.

"Are you going to hang out with the new kid?" Tyler snarled.

Yanking my arm out of his grasp, I shoved him in the shoulder. "Not everything is about Stefan, you know. I was going to meet up with Bonnie, Care, and Scarlett. Just do me a favor and leave me alone."

I stormed away from Tyler and walked into the school building, scanning the hallways for my friends. Students were starting to pour into the building and pretty soon, I was standing in the middle of the hallway, looking through a sea of teenagers. I groaned and turned around, deciding to head to Tanner's class. I made my way slowly through the crowd of people and the moment I stepped into the classroom, the bell rang and the sea of teenagers dispersed. I rolled my eyes, seeing as that was just my luck.

I plopped down into my seat and pulled my notebook out of my bag, ready for this boring class to begin. I heard kids flood into the room and I looked up just in time to see Bonnie, Scarlett, and Matt come in all together and go to their seats. Since Scarlett sat right behind me, I turned around to talk to her for a second.

"Where were you this morning?" she questioned, leaning back in her chair.

"I bumped into Tyler when I got to school and we got into a mini fight," I explained. "He keeps getting on my case about Stefan and he won't leave me alone."

"I can't believe it took you this long to break up with him," Scarlett admitted. "I mean, no offence or anything."

"None taken. I just don't want to talk about it anymore."

Scarlett nodded her head and I turned back around to face the front of the classroom. My eyes met a certain pair of green eyes when I looked up at the door way, causing a smile to erupt on my face. Stefan smiled back at me and sat down in his seat.

Tanner started to speak, starting class, and I tore my eyes away from Stefan to face the front of the class. I grabbed my pen and started to write down every other fact that Tanner recited and continued to do so for the rest of the class.

Towards the end of class, I had gotten utterly bored and I didn't want to write down anymore notes. I put my pencil down and leaned my head against my arm that was propped up against the desk.

I looked over to my left and saw Matt sleeping and Bonnie doodling in her notebook. I gave her a smile when she looked up at me. She returned the gesture and then turned back to her notebook. I turned my head to the other side and connected eyes with Stefan. He gave me a warm smile that reached his eyes and a sensation of giddiness shot through my body. I returned the smile, adjusting myself in my seat and continued to stare into his mystifying green eyes.

"Are we bothering you?" Tanner asked. "Mr. Salvatore?" Instantly, our gazes parted and we both looked up at Coach Tanner who was standing at the front of the classroom with his hands on his hips. "Ms. Daniels?"

I could feel my cheeks turning red as I shook my head and looked down at my notebook, trying to avoid Tanner's cold gaze for long. Thankfully, the bell rang and I shoved my things into my tote bag before getting up from my seat. Looking up before I started to walk out of the classroom, I saw Stefan standing in front of me with a smile on his face. There was something contagious about his smile and soon enough, a smile broke out on my face as well.

"That was interesting," he said, shoving his hands into the front pockets of his dark jeans.

I nodded my head in agreement and walked out of the room with Stefan by my side.

"Oh, I brought it," Stefan said as we walked in the hallway. He reached into his messenger bag and brought out a book that looked like it had seen better days. "I told you." He handed me the book and I gingerly held it in my hands, fearing that it would fall apart.

"_Wuthering Heights _by Ellis Bell," I exclaimed, looking down at the book. "You know, I can't believe she didn't use her real name."

"All the Bronte sisters used pseudonyms," Stefan told me. "It was the time. Female writers weren't very accepted then."

"You're like a walking encyclopedia of facts," I pointed out with a smile on my face as I looked up at him. Stefan shrugged his shoulders. "Where did you get it?"

"Uh," he paused, searching for an answer it seemed. "It was passed down through the family." I nodded my head, looking back down at the book. "I have lots of books. Go ahead," Stefan said, nudging my shoulder. "Keep it."

"Oh, no. I couldn't," I told him. "But I would like to read it again…" I looked up at the boy in front of me and smiled at him. "I promise I'll give it back."

Stefan chuckled, but nodded his head with a smile spreading across his face. "Okay."

"Riley!" a voice yelled out from the other side of the hallway.

My head snapped up to see Scarlett standing next to Matt, motioning me to go over to her. I turned to Stefan and gave him an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry, but I promised Scarlett that I would catch up with her this morning and I got distracted," I explained. "I'm going to go over with her, but I'll see you in English, okay?"

With a small smile, Stefan nodded his head and we went our separate ways. I walked over to Matt and Scarlett and gave them both a smile.

"Hey," I breathed out.

"Oh, my God," Scarlett said, sounding very excited about something.

"What?" I asked her.

"I met a guy last night!" she cooed. "He was so hot and he had the bluest eyes I have ever seen."

"Really?" I asked her, excited that she met someone. "What's his name? Does he go here?"

"He looked like he was out of college," Scarlett said. "And I never actually got his name."

"Older men, huh, Scar?" I teased which on its own caused her to blush. "Well, what did you talk about?"

"Nothing," she replied.

"What do you mean?" I questioned, confused.

"I actually never talked to him," Scarlett muttered.

"Scarlett!" I exclaimed. "You have to make yourself available."

"You don't understand," she whined. "I was drunk."

I rolled my eyes and gave her a smile to let her know that I was joking. The warning bell rang and students started to run through the hallways to get to class. Scarlett scurried off after saying bye and I was about to head to class when Matt spoke up.

"Hey, can I meet you by your locker after school?" he asked. "I want to talk to you."

"Yeah," I said with a kind smile on his face.

"See you then," Matt said, giving me a forced smile before we both headed to class.

* * *

"They're keeping her overnight to make sure there's no infection, but she should be able to come home tomorrow," Matt explained, talking about Vicki.

I had met up with him at the end of the day and we walked out of the school together, talking about his sister and the progress she was making. I was glad that she was doing okay and that my friend was going to be alright. I didn't have anything against Vicki. I just blamed everything they did together on Tyler.

"That's good news," I told him as we walked slowly along the campus. Matt nodded his head in agreement. "Did you get in touch with your mom?"

"Called and left a message," he said, shaking his head. I knew that Matt had problems with his mother. She had up and left him and Vicki alone to be with some guy she started dating. "She's in Virginia Beach with her boyfriend. So… we'll see how long it takes her to come rushing home."

I let out a sigh and moved off of the topic of his mother. "Vicki's lucky that she's okay," I said, comforting him.

"I know," Matt said. "And now there's talk of some missing campers."

"Did she say what kind of animal it was that attacked her?" I asked Matt, stopping to face him.

"She said it was a vampire."

"What?" I asked, with a laugh. I highly doubted that that was what attacked her. It was probably just the IV talking.

"Yeah, she wakes up last night and mutters 'vampire' and then passes out," he said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Okay, that's weird," I replied.

"I think she was drunk," he added, sounding sure that drinking was the reason that she said that. Matt looked over to the side and nodded his head once, keeping his eyes over where he was looking. "So what's up with you and the new guy?"

I looked over, following his line of sight and spotted Stefan sitting on a table with his messenger bag and jacket beside him. His back was facing us, yet we both could that it was him for sure. I let out an annoyed sigh and rolled my eyes.

"Did Tyler put you up to this?" I pressed, looking over at Matt with an annoyed expression.

Matt threw his hands up in the air and backed away slowly. "I'm going to go back to the hospital. I want to be there when Vicki wakes up; get the real story about last night."

I nodded my head, understanding that he didn't want to get in the middle of Tyler and I when we were fighting, plus he also wanted to see his sister.

I turned back around to head over to Stefan, but when I turned around, I came face to face with Tyler. My blood started to boil and I wasn't in the mood to talk to him, let alone see his face.

"Didn't I tell you to leave me alone?" I spat, shoving past him. I started to walk to my car but heard Tyler walking behind me. I came to a halt and turned to face him, not amused in the slightest that he was following me. "Tyler, what do you want?"

"I just want to talk," he said, repeating his statement from earlier today.

"Well, I don't," I snapped back. "Shouldn't you be checking up on your new girlfriend, Vicki?"

"It's not like that, Riley," Tyler argued with me.

"I don't want to know what it's like Tyler," I stated. "I just want to move on and I can't do that with you hovering over my shoulder every five seconds."

"Have you ever thought that maybe _I_ don't want you to move on?" Tyler pressed, moving closer to me. "I still love you, Riley. And I know you love me too."

I shook my head and pushed his chest away from me.

"I don't want to hear it," I responded. "I just want you to leave me alone. Is that too much to ask?"

Tyler grabbed my wrist and pulled me closer to him. His grip on my wrist was tight and hurt a lot. I let out a grunt of pain and tried to pull my wrist out of his grasp but it was impossible. Tyler looked into my eyes with his dark brown orbs and a dangerous glint flashed through them. "I still love you," he growled. "Why won't you listen to me?"

"I am listening, Tyler," I said, still struggling to get my wrist free. "I just don't want to hear it. There's a difference."

Anger washed over him and I could see him tense and feel his grip tighten more if that was possible. I cried out in pain. Hearing my cry, realization flashed over Tyler's face and he instantly let go of my wrist.

"Riley, I—" I cut him off.

"Save it," I demanded. "I don't want to hear it."

I turned on my heel and walked away from him, hurrying over to my car. Unlocking the vehicle, I got in and shut the door behind me before letting out a frustrated shout. I took deep breaths after to control myself and soon started the car, heading for the Mystic Grill where I was going to help Bonnie, Caroline, Elena, and Scarlett with the flyers for the Night of the Comet event the town was holding tomorrow all day.

* * *

"Well, I was talking to Grams, and she said the comet is a sign of impending doom," Bonnie stated. "The last time it passed over Mystic Falls, there was lots of death. So much blood and carnage that it created a bed of paranormal activity."

"Yeah," Caroline said, nodding her head. "And then you poured Grams another shot and she told you about the aliens."

Bonnie shut up and looked back down at her papers.

"Be nice, Caroline," Scarlett scolded our blonde friend.

"So then what?" Caroline asked eagerly, looking straight at me.

Earlier, we had been talking about my night with Stefan last night. Caroline was deeply invested into the topic and wanted all the details as if something had happened between me and Stefan.

"So then nothing," I replied with a sigh.

"You and Stefan talked all night?" Elena questioned asked in shock.

"There was no sloppy first kiss or touchy feely of any kind?" Caroline asked, flabbergasted.

I rolled my eyes before responding to the girls who were practically foaming at the mouth to get details.

"No, we didn't go there," I said. "I just broke up with Tyler guys. I'm not some slut who is going to go and make out with the first guy I see and rebound."

"Not even a handshake?" Scarlett asked, folding one of the flyers we were to hand out tomorrow.

"Riley, we are your _friends._ You are supposed to share the smut," Caroline whined.

"We just talked, Care," I said for the billionth time it seemed. "Why is that so hard to believe?"

"What is with the blockage?" Elena cried out.

"Yeah!" Caroline agreed. "Just _jump his bones _already! He's the perfect guy to help you move on from Tyler. It's easy. Boy likes girl; girl likes boy. _Sex_." Caroline had a devious smile on her face.

"Profound," Scarlett scoffed at Caroline.

Sitting back in my chair, I thought over what Caroline had just said. Stefan seemed like an amazing guy and I knew that a small part of me _really _liked him. Maybe that small part of me was enough to go up to him and just kiss him and start something. But wouldn't that seem like a rebound or that I was desperate?

I pushed all the negative thoughts out of my head and pushed myself out of my chair, my mind set on one thing and one thing only.

To kiss Stefan Salvatore.

It couldn't be that hard.

"Where are you going?" Bonnie asked.

"Caroline is right," I said, grabbing my bag from the arm of the chair. "It is easy. If I sit here long enough, I'll end up giving myself reasons why I can't and never go over to him and express how I feel. In other words, I'll be stuck in the friend zone."

Elena, Bonnie, Caroline, and Scarlett all shouted and hollered as I walked away, filling me with their encouragement; making my decision to go to Stefan's that much more easier to go with.

* * *

Pulling up into the drive way of the mansion where Stefan supposedly lived, I gawked at the house. It must have been as big as the entire town square. Half of it was made of wood and the other half was made out of bricks, giving it a unique appearance that was very beautiful. The house looked like it was a historical building or something. It certainly didn't look like a house where people actually lived inside.

I turned my car's engine off and slowly walked towards the front door, soaking in the little details of the house. When I reached the door, I noticed that instead of a regular doorbell, there was an _actual _bell attached to the side of the house. I grabbed the rope and yanked it down, ringing the bell. I took a step back and waited for Stefan or someone to answer the door, but no one did. I scooted up to the door and grabbed the door's handheld knocker and knocked a few times before the door opened on its own.

I gently pushed the door open wider, revealing the empty foyer before I took a step inside the house. I looked around the large foyer and saw no one.

"Stefan?" I called out, wondering if he was home and just didn't hear me ring the doorbell.

Walking a little further into the house, I saw a couple of chairs lined along one of the hallway's walls. On one of the chairs, Stefan's messenger bag was laying on it, telling me he had been here at some point after school and maybe was here now. Looking in the living room, I saw nothing but furniture that looked like it belonged in the eighteen hundreds. It was a strange taste in furniture but it fit the house perfectly.

"Stefan?" I repeated.

There was still no reply from anywhere in the house. I looked down the two hallways that branched off of the foyer once more and still saw no sign of Stefan.

Just when I was about to venture in a little more, I heard a creak from behind me and turned around instantly to see who was behind me but saw nothing but the open door. I was starting to get a little scared. First the door opens on its own and now I'm hearing things.

I started to walk towards the door slowly to see if anyone was outside, but stopped dead in my tracks when I heard a screeching sound. In the next moment, a crow came whooshing in, right past my head, making me jump and turn around to see where it went. Instead of coming face to face with an empty living room, I came face to face with a man I had never seen before.

I let out a scream of fright and started to tip back, due to my jumping and almost fell to the floor but was caught by the stranger. My heart was pounding in my chest and my breath was caught in my throat. Slowly, the stranger stood me back on my feet and let go of me.

"I'm sorry," I quickly apologized. "I didn't mean to barge in and then scream in your face. It's just that the door was—" I turned around to motion to the open door, but it was closed. "Open…"

I turned back to the stranger with a look of confusion on my face. The man before me looked my face over before he spoke again.

"You must be Riley," he said with a smile on his face.

All I could pay attention to was his ice blue eyes. They were so captivating. In fact, they reminded me of Stefan's eyes on some level because they held the same amount of mysteriousness as Stefan's. And they were equally as gorgeous.

"I'm Damon," he started. "Stefan's brother."

"He didn't tell me about you," I said. "But I remember him saying something along the lines of not speaking to his siblings."

"That's Stefan for you," Damon replied with a wink. "He's not one to brag." The blue eyed man motioned to the big living room before speaking. "Please, come. I'm sure Stefan will be along any second."

I followed his lead and allowed him to place his hand on my back to guide me into the massive room. I looked around in amazement, seeing everything closer now. I was still in shock that this is where he lived.

"Wow," I murmured. "This is your living room?"

Damon dropped his hand from my back and shrugged his shoulders. "Living room, parlor, Sotheby's auction," he teased with a small smirk. I gave him a smile before looking around again. "It's a little kitschy for my taste." There was a pause and silence fell over the two of us as I looked around the room more. I could feel his gaze on me but I didn't think much of it. "I see why my brother's so smitten."

I turned to face the older brother of Stefan and furrowed my brow, silently waiting for him to continue.

"It's about time. For a while there, I never thought he'd get over the last one," Damon trailed off. "Nearly destroyed him."

"I know how hard that can be," I said. "I just broke up with my boyfriend two days ago."

"Well, Katherine was the only girl in the world to Stefan," Damon said, pushing the topic of Stefan's ex on to our conversation.

I didn't really want to get into the whole conversation at the moment and just remained still and silent, hoping it would pass.

"Oh, you two haven't had the awkward exes conversation yet," Damon observed. "Well, it's bound to come up now."

I just nodded my head, praying the dark haired, blue eyed man would drop the conversation and show me to Stefan.

"Or maybe he didn't tell you because he didn't want you to think he was on the rebound," Damon pressed. I just nodded my head, focusing on the ground instead of the older man. "We all know how those relationships end."

"You say it like every relationship is doomed to end," I said to Damon, looking up at him.

"I'm a fatalist," Damon replied with a smirk touching the edge of his thin lips. I held his gaze for a while longer until he spoke up again. "Hello, Stefan."

I turned to face the foyer and saw Stefan standing in the middle of the entrance to the living room with a stone cold expression on his face.

"Riley, I didn't know you were coming over," he said, not bothering to look at me. He was too busy staring at his brother.

"I know I should have called, I just—"

"Oh, don't be silly," Damon exclaimed from behind me. I turned to face him and watched as he moved closer to me. "You're welcome any time. Isn't she, Stefan."

I looked at Damon with a bit of awe. He was so swift and smooth it was a little frightening. But none the less, a smile broke out on my face from his hospitality that Stefan wasn't sharing.

"You know, I should break out the family photo albums, or some home movies," Damon said, looking down at me. "But, I have to warn you. He wasn't always such a looker."

I let out a giggle but was interrupted by Stefan who spoke up from where he was.

"Thank you for stopping by, Riley."

I looked up at him, dropping the smile. He was still staring at his brother and I didn't understand what was making him so upset. So I met his brother? Big whoop.

"Nice to see you," Stefan added.

I slowly nodded my head, figuring it was best to leave now while I could.

"Yeah, I should probably go," I said, still a little unsure. I turned to Damon and gave him a small smile. "It was nice to meet you, Damon."

"Great meeting you, too, Riley," Damon replied before grabbing my hand and bringing it up to his lips. He brushed his lips over my knuckles, causing a blush to fan across my cheeks. He let go of my hand with a smile still on his lips.

I turned away from him and walked up to Stefan, standing in front of him. I couldn't capture his attention since he was still focused on his brother.

"Stefan?" I asked, trying to see if he would move out of my way. When he didn't move, I asked him again, this time quieter.

His eyes flickered down to mine for a second before he moved out of my way without saying a word. I looked at him in shock and shook my head at him slightly. I don't know what was going on but I wasn't happy with Stefan at the moment. I came over here to show him what I was feeling since Caroline, Bonnie, Elena, and Scarlett got me all riled up and now it was like a slap to the face. Stefan was so distant, cold, and withdrawn that it scared me a little.

I walked past him and out the front door, shutting it behind me but not before I could hear Damon whistle at me. I walked to my car and hopped in, driving away as soon as I could.

To say that I was frustrated would be an understatement.

* * *

The next day, Bonnie, Scarlett, and I were walking around the town square handing out flyers for tonight's event. We passed multiple families and kids who were running around, getting their faces painted, or playing with one another. Over all, everyone seemed happy.

Except for me.

"Okay, that's it," Bonnie said, stopping in her tracks, making Scarlett and I stop as well. I gave my friend a confused look and waited for her to continue. "You have been in this funk ever since we picked you up today. What's going on?"

"It's nothing, Bonnie," I told her, trying to brush the conversation away.

"It obviously_ is _something, Riley," she pointed out. "What is it? We're your friends and we want to help you."

"Yesterday you know how I went over to Stefan's house, right?" I asked them. They nodded their heads and I continued. "Well, I met his brother."

"Stefan has a brother?" Scarlett asked, shocked.

I nodded my head. "Well, his brother started talking about his ex-girlfriend, Katherine. He made it seem like she was his everything. I guess you could say that I was a little hurt and jealous but that's beside the point. He started pushing the fact that I might be a rebound on to me. I was fine with that because, that's sort of what I was doing with him, you know?"

"You're not rebounding, though," Bonnie comforted.

"Yes I am," I said "I'm looking for someone to get my mind off of my ex and that is rebounding. Hell, my mom even said that I _was _on the rebound."

Bonnie shook her head and Scarlett placed a comforting hand on my shoulder as I continued to explain myself.

"Then Stefan appeared out of nowhere and barely acknowledged me. He was so mad at his brother for some unknown reason. Stefan suggested that I go and so I did. I went home back to my mom and filled her in on everything."

"He didn't call you after to apologize?" Scarlett asked me.

"Or at least text?" Bonnie asked.

I shook my head. "We never even exchanged numbers. But I mean, the timing is wrong anyway. We're both obviously just getting out of painful relationships."

"When is the timing ever right?" Scarlett pushed.

"I'm just not ready," I told them both.

"Who is?" Bonnie exclaimed.

"At least I tried and went to him first," I defended.

"Riley," Bonnie started. "You deserve this. You deserve to be happy and be with someone who won't hurt you."

"Yeah," Scarlett agreed. "You need to move on from Tyler. We all know that if you just sit around mopping over him you'll go back to him eventually."

I hung my head, knowing that she was right.

"All I'm hearing is reasons that you can't," Bonnie said. "Riley, just make it happen. Take the chance."

I looked up at my friends and nodded my head, before turning to hand out flyers once more.

* * *

As the moon hung in the dark sky, I walked with Elena and Bonnie over to Caroline and Scarlett who were smiling and talking to Matt. When we neared them, Caroline turned around and shoved candles towards us.

"Hey, I got some candles for you three," she said as we took them out of her hands and held them. We all smiled at her and Bonnie, Caroline, and Elena linked arms before walking over to Matt and Scarlett who were laughing and talking.

"Hi," I greeted them as they turned towards us.

"Hey," Matt greeted, putting his candle up to mine to light the wicker.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome," he said with a smile on his face.

"Why so happy?" I asked him.

"Vic's out of the hospital and I'm here with you guys," he said with a smile. I let out a laugh at his happiness and gave him a smile.

I turned around, looking down at my candle. The light was flickering in the slight wind and out of the corner of my eye I saw someone holding a candle that needed to be set ablaze with fire. I stuck my candle out towards them and touched our candles together.

"Thank you," the familiar voice of Stefan Salvatore rang out in the air.

I looked up quickly to see that I he was in front of me, holding the candle that I had just lit. I started open mouthed at him, not knowing what to say to him. A million and one thoughts were running through my mind at the moment and I didn't know what one to voice.

"Hi," he greeted me.

"Hi," I returned, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. I gave him a weak smile before turning away from him and walking away a little. I could feel the gazes of my friend's eyes on me and I didn't like it one bit. I felt uncomfortable and that wasn't going to help me if I had to talk to Stefan.

I stood in a spot where I could look through a clearing in the trees and see the comet slowly passing through the sky. The candle I had in my hand provided some warmth from the cold wind that was brushing against my back. After a couple of seconds, I could feel a presence behind my back but thought nothing of it until I heard Stefan speak quietly into my ear.

"You know, that comet, it's been traveling across space of thousands of years," he started, causing me to look up at him. He moved his gaze from the comet to me and I turned my head back to the comet. "All alone."

"Yeah, Bonnie says it's a harbinger of evil," I commented with a tiny laugh at the end.

"I think it's just a ball of snow and ice, trapped on a path that it can't escape," Stefan said. "And once every one hundred and forty-five years it gets to come home."

I remained silent and prayed that he didn't bring up the topic that I knew was coming next. I didn't want to talk about it and be reminded that we were both on the rebound and Damon had said that our relationship was practically doomed to end.

"I'm sorry about yesterday," Stefan apologized, bringing up the topic. I knew that it was coming and wasn't all that mad but a small part of me was angry that he was apologizing now and not earlier. But I guess better late than never. "I wasn't myself."

I let out a dry laugh and shook my head at him.

"You seem to apologize at least once every time that we talk," I stated, still looking up at the comet and not at him. I knew that if I looked at him, I would be reminded of yesterday and the events that happened.

"Well, I need to apologize for the things I've done wrong," he replied.

I rolled my eyes at his comment and instantly regretted it, knowing that he would take it to heart.

"Yesterday at my house, that wasn't about you, okay?"

I turned to face him against my better judgment. "Is that how you normally treat your brother?" I asked him.

"We're not close," he defended in a serious tone of voice. "It's, uh… It's complicated."

"You know, Damon told me about Katherine," I told him, looking down at my candle, wanting to avoid his piercing eyes.

"What did he say?"

"That she was your world."

There was a pause as Stefan and I both remained silent.

"That was a long time ago and it ended badly," Stefan stated.

I breathed out a laugh and shook my head with a sad smile on my face. "When you love someone, it's easy to lose yourself in them. You feed off of every single thing that they say to you and you believe it too because you think they would never lie to you. But then reality comes knocking on your door and you realize that they have been playing you all along." I paused in my little speech and took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves. I was getting upset talking about love since all it's done is kick me in the chest. "It's easy to get hurt and harder to find a love that will last forever." I finished and looked up at the comet, blinking back the tears in my eyes, hoping that we could just drop this whole conversation. I didn't want to talk about depressing issues any longer.

I saw Stefan step in front of me, but I kept my gaze focused on the comet about his head and tried to keep the tears at bay.

"Riley," he said in a soft tone.

"It's okay Stefan, I get it. I really do," I responded, looking down at him. "Complicated family? Check. Complicated ex? Check. Too complicated to even consider dating? Double check." Stefan watched me with caring eyes that made me want to break down into tears, but I held my front up. "It's okay. We met, we talked, it was amazing, but…" I trailed off, not being able to finish.

Stefan cast his eyes down at the ground and I slouched my shoulders. He looked back up a moment later and I shrugged, not knowing what to do or how to continue the conversation after our heavy moment. So instead of talking, I just stepped around Stefan and walked away from him, heading towards the Grill where I could see my friends filing in the door.

* * *

"Vicki?" I called out, walking around the town square, looking for the girl who had gone missing. Matt, Elena, Bonnie, Caroline, Tyler, Scarlett, and I were all searching the town for her. I was worried for the older girl. She had just gotten out of the hospital and now she was missing.

"Vicki?" Tyler's deep voice boomed from right next to me.

Sadly, he had followed me out of the Grill to search for her. I didn't once look at him or acknowledge him. I didn't want to be here with him but I put that aside and kept searching for Vicki.

"Vicki?" he called out again, following me down the alley way where I knew some stoners went time after time.

"Why can't he just leave me alone?" I muttered under my breath.

Tyler stopped in his tracks and faced me.

"Do you have something to say to me, Riley?" he challenged, obviously hearing what I said under my breath.

I rolled my eyes at him and just ignored him. All was going fine until he grabbed my upper arm and spun me around to face him.

"What's your problem with me?" Tyler asked. "I've left you alone just like you've asked me and here you are, acting like this."

"Oh, really, Tyler?" I shouted at him. "You've left me alone for twenty hours tops. And now here you are, _following _me when we are looking for your girlfriend."

"I'm not following you," Tyler yelled at me.

"Okay, so we're going to play this way?" I laughed out, quickly becoming tired of him. "Now that we aren't dating, I don't see the reasons that I was with you in the first place. All you are is a jerk who is so self-conceded."

"Self-conceded?" Tyler repeated. "What gives you the right to call me that?"

"I have all the right in the world!" I yelled, tearing my arm out of his grasp. "God! You give me a headache."

"What's gotten into you? You were never like this."

"Nothing's gotten into me, Tyler," I shot back. "The only thing that has changed is that now I see why it would have never worked between us. All you ever cared about was being the most popular guy. I had to freaking compete with _football _to get your attention. We always argued and you forgot things."

"Sorry to burst your bubble but I was the only guy who could put up with you. You've always had these high expectations and you're high maintenance, Riley."

Anger boiled inside of me and my blood ran thin as I started to shake from all the anger bottled up inside of me.

"You can pick on me all you want but we both know that I'm the only one that would ever ask you out," Tyler hissed.

Rage took over and I felt something snap inside of me. Before I knew what I was doing, my hand connected with Tyler's cheek and the sound of a slap echoed through the air.

"You dick," I spat with tears watering in my eyes. "You're an insensitive pig. Good luck finding someone who will like the real you, Tyler."

I spun around on my heels and stormed out of the alley way, letting the tears slip down my cheeks. Hearing what Tyler said back there made me want to curl up in a corner and cry. I didn't know that I was high maintenance. I thought I was fine. Apparently not. I walked past the families who were slowly making their way home and started to walk in the direction that my feet were carrying me.

* * *

Standing on the front porch of the Salvatore house, I couldn't help but wonder why I chose to come here. The tears had stopped a long time ago and I was pretty sure that I still looked like I was a train wreck but I pushed those thoughts to the back of my head as I reached up and yanked the rope that was connected to the bell.

Not a second later, the front door opened to reveal Stefan. He seemed surprised by my presence and I all I could muster was a small smile.

"Hi," he said in a whisper.

"Hey," I returned, fumbling with my fingers.

I started at him for a while as he started at me. Stefan turned his body to motion inside his house while still looking into my eyes.

"Would you like to come in?" he asked me, searching my eyes for an answer.

I shook my head and reached for his hand. Once I was holding on to his hand, I softly pulled it towards me while backing up.

"The comet is this way," I said in a quiet voice.

Stefan's face remained neutral and there was no smile on his face but his eyes sparkled in the dim lighting of the porch light. I continued to back up until the back of my legs hit the stone ledge of the railing. I dropped Stefan's hand and looked up into the sky where the comet was still in view.

"I wish I could be a comet," I said, turning to face Stefan. "All it has to worry about is making it back home every so often. It doesn't have any of the drama."

"But it stays away for so long," Stefan countered. "It's lonely and it never has a companion."

"A blessing and a curse," I chuckled.

The corners of Stefan's lips tugged up into a tiny smile.

"I'm sorry for showing up here unexpected once more," I apologized. "Especially after earlier today."

"No, no," Stefan said. "I'm glad you came. The way we left things… I didn't like it."

"Tonight, after I walked away from you, I found out that Vicki was missing. I went out to look for her even though that might sound crazy. I mean, she _is _the girl Tyler was cheating on me with, but that's beside the point. Tyler followed me and we got into a fight. I said things to him that were harsh, but they were what I was feeling. I told him everything I was feeling and I could see him getting angry with me." Stefan watched me as I spoke with kind eyes. "He'd had enough and soon he was taking blows at me just like I was at him. He told me that I was 'high maintenance' and that he was the only guy who could 'put up with me'. I never knew that about myself but the more that I think about it, the more I can see that he's right. I expect too much and I'm just a problem."

I looked down at the ground and shook my head. I didn't know why I was pouring my heart out to some boy that I met two days ago but I couldn't help myself. I felt like he understood me. I tilted my head back up to look at him and continued.

"I'm scared that he's right, Stefan."

Stefan thought for a moment before speaking. "Do you want to know what I would write in my journal about today?" I nodded my head. "'I met a girl. We talked. It was more than amazing; it was epic. She was so hurt and torn up. There was something inside of me that wanted to make her feel better about herself. I wanted to show her that it was going to be alright and that she could be happy again.'" At this point, I was smiling. "'Then the sun came up and reality set in. This, right here, is reality.'"

I watched as Stefan looked into my eyes and slowly started to lean in towards me. My heart started pounding against my chest and my palms started to sweat. My eyes flickered down to his lips and then back up to his eyes just before my eyes fluttered shut.

A second later, I felt his lips brush over mine softly before I moved my lips to fit his. The kiss was soft and gentle and all the feelings that I couldn't express were slowly seeping into the kiss.

We both pulled away and I leaned my forehead against his before looking up into his green eyes. They were so bright and intense but I loved it. I found myself leaning in again but this time instead of keeping my hands to my side, I reached up and placed them on the sides of his face, bringing him closer to me. His hands moved to my cheeks and he rubbed his thumbs in light circles around my jaw, sending shivers down my spine. Our lips connected again, sharing more emotion in this kiss than the first one.

It was blissfully innocent and sweet. I soon found myself getting lost in the small kisses that we were sharing.

All of the negative thoughts in my head had vanished and all I could focus on was the feeling of sheer joy as I stood here with Stefan, sharing kisses under the mystical comet hanging above our heads.

* * *

**I took the outfits for this story down. I'm not going to be using Polyvore much more now. **

**I hope you liked this chapter. Please tell me what you thought about it in a review. **

**Thanks so much for everything so far and thanks for reading!**

**-NS1918 xoxo**


	3. Friday Night Bites

**Sorry for the long wait for this chapter. I have been busy and a bit lazy. (;**

**Please refer to the disclaimer in the first chapter.**

* * *

**Friday Night Bites**

"I'm not saying don't date the guy," Bonnie said as Elena, Scarlett, Bonnie, and I all got out of her car. It was a sunny morning and I was feeling good about myself. After last night, I felt like I was on top of the world. "I'm just saying take it slow."

"You're the one who told her to go for it, Bonnie," Elena pointed out, sticking up for me.

Bonnie rolled her eyes as her and Scarlett joined me and Elena on the other side of the car.

"Now, I'm warning her to take it slow," the girl argued.

"I'm right here guys," I said to the two of them with a half-smile on my face. "But yeah," I started, agreeing with Elena. "You were just pushing us together a day ago. Why the about-face?"

"It's not an about-face," Bonnie defended quickly. "You're single for the first time in a year."

"Because that is such a long time," I teased her, earning a scoff from Bonnie. Elena and Scarlett snickered.

"I'm just saying, this is your perfect time to play the field, show Tyler that you don't need a man to hold you down," Bonnie stated.

"Because Riley is _totally _that girl, Bonnie," Scarlett scoffed. "When in all your seventeen years of knowing Riley, have you ever known her to be a slut?"

Bonnie rolled her eyes and disregarded Scarlett's question.

"Seriously, though," I said, facing my friend. "What are you not telling me, Bonnie?"

"It's stupid," she commented, shaking her head. Bonnie started to walk towards the school but I grabbed her arm and turned her around to face us again.

"Spit it out," I pushed, hoping that she would tell me what was going on.

"I accidentally touched Stefan—" she was cut off by Elena.

"Ooh! How could you?" she teased.

Bonnie rolled her eyes but continued. "And I got a really bad feeling."

I looked at her incredulously for a moment, wondering if she was serious or not. When I realized that she was serious, I grunted. "Is that it?" I groaned. "Bonnie, seriously?" Hearing my protest, Bonnie turned away to leave, but I caught her arm and pulled her back to me. "Come on."

"It was 'bad' bad!" she exclaimed.

Scarlett frowned beside me. "Is this the whole witch-mojo thing again?" she asked.

"You know what, I'm just concerned," Bonnie told us all. "This is me expressing concern about my best friend's new boyfriend," she reasoned.

I leaned forward and gripped Bonnie's shoulders. "And _thank you_, Bonnie, I appreciate it," I said honestly. "I do," I continued. "But I feel good. It's been a hard couple of days and…I'm starting to feel like things are getting back to normal again," I explained. "And you know, Stefan is a big part of that."

Bonnie looked at me for a moment, but I knew that the argument was over…for now, at least.

"Morning, Riley," someone said out in the crowd, and each and every one of us looked up to see Stefan walking towards us. I let a smile slowly spread onto my face. "Morning Bonnie, Scarlett, Elena," he said, running their greetings into one.

Bonnie turned to the rest of us. "Hey, um, I gotta find Caroline." Bonnie looked down to the grass. "She's not answering her phone, so…see you guys."

"Bonnie, wait," I tried, but Bonnie was already far from us without another word. Stefan looked back at me.

"She doesn't like me very much," he noted, a slight sadness in his voice.

"She doesn't know you," Scarlett reasoned. "She's just looking out for Riley, but when she does…well, you get the picture." Scarlett smiled. Stefan smiled in return and we all resumed walking with each other, Elena and Scarlett having no problem with Stefan at all.

Suddenly, I had a stroke of genius. "I've got it!" I snapped my fingers and looked at Stefan. "Are you free tonight?" I asked.

"Yes," Stefan said, grinning at me as we all came to a stop once more.

"Perfect," I agreed. "Dinner. My house. Eight o'clock." Stefan listened intently while I continued. "You, me, Bonnie—" I spun around and faced Scarlett. With an exclamatory inhale, I spoke to her. "You should bring the guy you met at the Grill!"

"Uh, yeah," she said, slowly hesitate. I raised my eyebrow and she just smiled at me, but I could tell it wasn't full. "Sure."

"Great," I said, deciding not to spend more time on the topic. I would try and bring it up later when Scarlett and I were alone if I could. I turned to Stefan. "Mission accomplished. She'll realize what a wonderful guy you are and all is right in the world," I teased.

Again, he smiled, and I felt the weight of the whole world lift off of my shoulders as if it were just another day.

And, suddenly, he turned around at lightning-speed, catching a football firm in his hand. I peered behind Stefan's shoulder to see Tyler, rebounding from the impact of the throw. I squared my jaw and watched as Tyler did a double-take from the obvious surprise of Stefan's catch. With no hesitation, Stefan drew his arm back and threw the ball at full force, making Tyler jump back when the ball hit him, his fingers barely catching it.

When I saw it happened, I felt like laughing, but the truth was, I was too angry to laugh. Why must Tyler insist upon ruining everything for me just because he didn't get things done _his _way? All the while, he was still cheated on me with Vicki Donovan.

"He's an asshole," Elena said under her breath, though I still heard her. She turned to me. "Aren't you going to go over there?" she asked, confused as to why I wasn't already halfway there.

But in that moment, I saw the look on Tyler's face – and I realized. He _wanted _me to go over there. He _wanted _me to get angry and to pay more attention to him. He wanted me to get in his face because that's what he _liked_.

"No," I said eventually. "No, I won't." I looked at Stefan. "Come on," I said as the bell rang sharply, telling us that it was time to go to class. "Let's go."

Once inside, Elena and Scarlett parted with us, leaving Stefan and I alone. To be honest, it felt better this way. I liked it. I was still angry over what Tyler had done – trying to get a rise out of me and embarrass Stefan – but I was happy I didn't succumb to his childish games. I was better than that.

"That throw was insane," I told Stefan as we walked down the hallway together. "You didn't tell me you played football."

"I used to," Stefan explained. "It was a long time ago."

"So why don't you try out for the team?"

"Yeah," Stefan said with hesitance. "I don't think so."

"So you don't like football?" We stopped at my locker so I could pick up some things before class started.

"No, I love football," he told me. "It's a great sport." Stefan paused. "But, in this case, I don't think football likes me."

I rolled my eyes. "You're talking about Tyler, aren't you?" I accused.

"Well, you saw him back there." Stefan sighed. "I don't think it'd be very nice to make things harder on him."

"I seriously couldn't care less about what Tyler thinks right now," I said honestly. "He doesn't know you, I do. Tyler's a jackass."

"Says the girl who dated him for a year," he teased me, and I frowned in response.

"It doesn't mean he's not a jackass," I pointed out. "And it also doesn't mean you should not try out for the football team because you're afraid of hurting my ex's feelings."

"Hm," Stefan said, leaving the question open-ended as I shut my locker and smiled at him. With nothing more on the topic, we continued to class.

* * *

School had ended over half an hour ago and everyone had flooded to the athletic fields, ready to practice their sports that they were a part of; except for me. I was the girl who sat in the bleachers and did anything she could to get out of gym.

Scarlett, Bonnie, and Elena had gone to cheerleading practice and I had found a seat in the bleachers, to watch football practice and wait for my ride home with Bonnie. I threw my bag and jacket down on the seat next to me and lounged back, watching as the players made their way on to the track surrounding the field, ready to start practice.

A figure climbing up the bleachers caught my eye and I looked down to see Stefan coming towards me with a slight smile on his lips. Once he reached me, he sat down next to me and looked down at the football field.

"Why are you sitting up here in the bleachers?" Stefan asked me.

"Bonnie's my ride home and I have to wait for her so I figured why not watch guys squeezed into spandex run around a flied looking like fools?" I answered with a smile on my face.

"Are you sure it has nothing to do with Tyler?" Stefan teased. I rolled my eyes and gave his shoulder a light nudge. Stefan shook his head and chuckled.

"Mr. Lockwood," Coach Tanner yelled out from the football field. "Is there anything you're good at? Because it's not history and it sure as hell isn't _defending the ball_!" he barked.

I let out a small chuckle and shook my head as Tyler mumbled a response and Tanner made them do the drill again.

"So, Mr. Salvatore," I started, capturing his attention. "What are you doing up here in the bleachers? I thought you were going to try and join the team."

Stefan looked away from me and down at his ring on his finger.

"I already told you, football doesn't like me," he said.

"Come on, Stefan," I pressed. "Go and try. Matt's on the team. He won't let Tyler get to you." Stefan looked up at me and studied my face before he let out a defeated sigh and hung his head. After a moment, he tilted his head back up and looked at me with light eyes.

"Fine."

A smile spread across my face and I let out a happy squeal, pushing him to get up and go down to Tanner. Stefan got up from the bench, grabbing his things, and shook his head with a smile on it before walking down to Tanner who was standing on the edge of the track. The two started to talk and I could see Tanner tense from where I was sitting. I continued to watch them until Stefan looked up at me with a smile and ran off of the field.

I looked down at the field and immediately met the gaze of Tyler. I tore my eyes away from his not a second later and looked down at my hands in my lap, finding them interesting all of a sudden. I wasn't really happy with Tyler at the moment and I was surprised that I hadn't gone up to him and yelled at him today after what he had done. I didn't want him to have the satisfaction getting me worked up.

Sliding my phone out of my back pocket, I unlocked it and started to mess around with the settings, trying to keep myself focused on something so I wouldn't look up and see Tyler again. I continued to fool around with my phone until I heard boys start to bellow from down at the field.

I snapped my head up to see Stefan run on to the field and join the other players. A smile made its way onto my lips and I saw him look up at me and smile before shaking his head and putting his helmet on. The smile on my face spread into a grin as I watched him get in line for the first drill.

Matt started to shout directions to his team and then they were passing the ball back and forth, trying to avoid the other team. Tyler ran to block Stefan but came up short when Stefan caught the ball that Matt had passed to him.

Tyler's team complained to him for not blocking Stefan while Matt and the rest of the other team shouted at Stefan with approval. Stefan took off his helmet after he tossed the football back to Matt and looked up at me with a smile. I raised my hands up and clapped them together three times before dropping them back into my lap. Stefan laughed at me and put his helmet back on, returning to the back line.

They ran drills a couple more times, all with the same outcome. During the drills, I could see Tanner and the other coach nodding their heads in approval with smiles on their faces. Looking over at the team, I saw them all taking a break and chatting to one another; that was, everyone but Stefan. He stood off to the sidelines with a straight face as if he was thinking something over. I looked from Stefan over to Tyler and Matt only to see them talking to each other but looking at Stefan. I narrowed my eyes in confusion but looked back over to Stefan, wondering what they were talking about.

"All right, let's double up!" Matt shouted, bringing the teams back together to run practice again.

I leaned forward so my arms were leaning on my knees and I watched them all get in line. They started talking in confusing code before they threw the ball back. I watched as Stefan ran around the other team, ready to catch the ball that Matt had in his hands. On the opposite side of Stefan, I saw Tyler running around to go and block Stefan's catch. Matt threw the ball to Stefan who jumped up in the air to receive it but Tyler clashed into Stefan, sending them both on to the ground with Stefan underneath Tyler.

I immediately tensed up.

Tyler's team cheered him on and he got up off of Stefan but hovered over him for a moment before slowly backing away from him, leaving him to lay on the ground in pain. Tyler looked up at me and winked before he ran off towards his team. I narrowed my eyes at his figure and fumed in my seat.

It was one thing to push me to my limits but it was another thing to hurt someone else.

I turned my head back to look at Stefan and saw Matt helping him up from the ground. I relaxed a little and smiled to Matt when he looked up and nodded at me. I thanked him with a smile and watched as Stefan looked up at me and gave me a forced smile before continuing on with practice.

* * *

"You explain it," Bonnie said as she opened the containers of Italian food that we had bought for dinner tonight. We were talking about her "psychic" abilities. "Last night, I'm watching _9-0_. Commercial break comes on and I'm like, "I bet it's that phone commercial." And sure enough, it's the guy and the girl with the bench, he flies to Paris and he flies back. They take a picture."

I let out a laugh as I set down the serving bowls that I had got from the cupboard. "Oh, really, Bonnie? That commercial comes on every five seconds. _I _could had predicted that."

"Fine," Bonnie huffed, taking one of the pasta containers from my hand. "Well, how about this? Today, I'm obsessed with numbers." She peeled the lid of the container off and sat it down on the counter top while still looking me directly in the eye. "Three numbers. I keep seeing eight, fourteen, and twenty-two. How weird is that?"

I rolled my eyes at her and nodded my head. "And lately I have been obsessed with George Clooney but you don't see me questioning how weird it is."

Bonnie let out scoff and shook her head. "Only you, Riley."

I laughed at her comment and then returned to the topic. "Have you talked to your grams?"

"She's just going to say I'm a witch," Bonnie argued. "I don't want to be a witch. Do you want to be a witch?"

"I don't want to be a witch," I responded while dumping a dish of pasta into a bowl.

"You know, putting pasta into a nice bowl isn't fooling anybody," Bonnie stated.

"It's not my fault I can't cook," I defended. "Okay, serving spoons." I looked around the kitchen at the multiple drawers trying to remember where they were. "Where are the serving spoons?"

"Middle drawer on your left," Bonnie spoke up.

I opened the drawer that she said and found the wooden serving spoons. I grabbed them and closed the drawer shrugging. "Okay, so you've been in this kitchen a thousand times."

"Yeah," Bonnie scoffed, taking the spoons from my hand, throwing them into the bowls. "That's it."

The sound of the doorbell ringing caught me by surprise. "Okay, they're here."

Bonnie and I looked down at the mess of containers on the counter and quickly shoved the containers into the paper bag that they came in. I grabbed the bag and scurried over to the pantry and threw the bag into the trashcan and turned back around to see Bonnie setting everything on the table. I gave her a quick smile.

"Don't be nervous," I told her. "Just be your normal loving self."

Bonnie nodded her head and sat down in a chair while I walked over to the front door. I took a deep breath before opening it and put on smile. When the door was fully open, I saw Stefan standing on the doorstep with his hands in his pockets.

"Hi," I breathed out as I motioned for him to come in.

He gave me a smile and stepped inside the house. I shut the door behind him and walked with him into the kitchen where Bonnie was sitting at the table.

"Hello, Bonnie," Stefan greeted.

Bonnie gave him a half smile and looked up at me. "Uh, Scarlett texted me and said that she was running late and that we should start without her."

"Okay, then," I said hesitantly, taking a seat across from Bonnie. I looked up at Stefan as he took a seat at the head of the table. Looking between Bonnie and Stefan, I gave them a smile and motioned to the food. "Let's eat."

* * *

Towards the end of dinner, I stopped fidgeting in my seat and decided to break the awkward silence that was hanging in the air.

"You were amazing at football practice today," I praised Stefan, making him look over at me and smile a little.

"I'm not that good, I've just been playing football ever since I can remember," Stefan said.

I nodded my head and turned to Bonnie, pulling her in to the conversation since this dinner was really all about getting her to like Stefan.

"Bonnie, you should have seen Stefan today," I started. "He was amazing at practice. He caught almost every pass. But then Tyler—"

"Yeah, I heard," Bonnie said quickly, cutting me off midsentence. After a while, I decided that I would keep the conversation going.

"Why don't you tell him about your family?" I suggested. Bonnie looked at me, glowering.

"Um," she started and looked at Stefan. "Divorced. No mom, live with my dad," she explained. Stefan nodded. I looked at her, confused.

"No, about the witches," I said, as if it were obvious – and to me, it was. I looked at Stefan. "Bonnie's family has a lineage of witches. It's _really _cool," I said, sneaking a glance at my friend.

"Cool isn't the word I'd use."

I stared at her, angry. Why couldn't she just give it a chance?

"Well, it's certainly interesting," Stefan began. "I'm not…too versed, but I do know that there's a history of Celtic Druids that migrated here in the eighteen hundreds."

"My family came by way of Salem," Bonnie informed him. I couldn't believe my eyes – they were talking. Without help from me. A smile of triumph crossed my face.

"Really?" Stefan asked, interested. Bonnie nodded. "Salem witches?"

"Yeah."

Stefan looked over at me. "I'd say that's pretty cool," he told me, and I smiled at him, feeling my heart soar by the way he looked at me.

"Really?" Bonnie continued. "Why?"

"Salem witches are…_heroic _examples of individualism and nonconformity," Stefan explained.

Proudly, Bonnie straightened, smiled, and nodded at Stefan. "Yeah," she agreed. "They are." I grinned to myself and brought my food to my mouth to eat, but suddenly, there was another ring at the doorbell. I looked at Bonnie and Stefan, with a smile on my lips, setting down the food I was about to eat.

"I wonder who that could be," I teased as I got out of my chair and walked to the door to answer it.

Opening the door, my eyes first landed on Scarlett who looked like she was about to burst into tears. I furrowed my brow in confusion and looked up to see who this mysterious boy from the Grill was. When I saw his face, I realized he was anything but a boy.

Damon Salvatore stood behind Scarlett with a smirk on his face.

"Scarlett," I started to say but was stopped by the frightened girl in front of me who shook her head slightly.

"I brought desert since we were too late for dinner," Scarlett whispered before stepping into my house and scurrying off to the kitchen, leaving Damon to stand outside of my house all alone.

I stared at him in confusion and shock.

What was Scarlett doing with him? He looked like he was old enough to be out of college. And why was she so frightened? I'd never seen her so frightened in my entire life.

"What are you doing here?" I heard Stefan's voice ask from behind me. I spun around to face him only to see him giving his brother an icy glare.

"I'm waiting for Riley to invite me into her house," Damon answered, winking at me with a smirk on his face.

"Uh, yeah, you can—" I started to talk but was cut off by an anxious Stefan.

"No, no, no," he said quickly. "He can't, um… he can't stay." Stefan said, speaking for his brother. "Can you, Damon?" I looked between the brothers as they stared at each other with cold expressions. "We're just finishing up."

I spoke up, wanting to end the standoff and go see what was bothering Scarlett. "It's fine. Come in, Damon, make yourself at home." I looked over at Stefan to see him looking at me with a semi-worried expression. I shot him a quick half smile before walking into the living room where Bonnie and Scarlett were sitting down close together on one of the love couches.

"Scarlett, are you okay?" I asked her quietly as I walked over to her. She had a haunted look on her face and she remained silent, not speaking a word. I placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze before looking at Bonnie. "I'm going to go make a pot of tea for us all."

Bonnie nodded her head while Scarlett remained still, being perfectly quiet which was totally out of character.

I turned on my heel and walked into the kitchen just as Damon walked into the living room. I let out a sigh of relief when I was in the kitchen. I don't know why but I had a feeling of discomfort in my stomach that appeared when I saw Scarlett and Damon tonight and I couldn't shake it. I ran a distressed hand through my hair and took another deep breath, trying to calm my nerves.

Hearing footsteps, I looked up and saw Stefan walking into the kitchen. He looked worried and cautious, adding more butterflies to my stomach that was already swarming with them. Stefan walked over to me and grabbed my hand from my side, holding it in his.

"What is going on with you and your brother?" I asked him in a tone no louder than a whisper.

Stefan shook his head and looked down at our hands instead of looking me in the eye. "Let's not talk about that right now." He looked back up at me and gave me a small smile. "Clean the table while you make that tea, alright?"

I nodded my head, swallowing the argument that tried to spill from my lips. Stefan slowly let go of my hand and turned to the kitchen table while I walked over to the stove and turned it on to get it hot. I reached into the cupboard above the stove and pulled out the tea bags and sugar before I grabbed a tea pot hanging beneath the cabinet. I filled the pot with water and set it on the stove before leaning back on the island counter, staring at the pot while I thought.

What was going on with Scarlett? She was acting like a deer caught in headlights and to be honest, it was scaring me a little bit. I'd never seen her this scared before. I felt like I had to do something but I knew I couldn't do something until she told me what was going on and I had a feeling she wasn't going to tell me.

My thoughts floated to the topic of Damon Salvatore. All I knew was that this man was the definition of shady at the moment. I couldn't pinpoint why I was so uncomfortable around him at the moment but I'm pretty sure that he is part of the reason why Scarlett is so freaked out and paranoid.

The pot started to whistle, snapping me out of my thoughts and I turned the stove off and grabbed five mugs out of the cupboard, pouring the steaming water into them before adding the tea bags.

"Need some help?" Stefan asked from behind me. I nodded my head and handed him two mugs.

"You can give one to your brother," I told him while I picked up two more mugs. "I'm going to give these to Bonnie and Scarlett real quick."

Walking into the living room with Stefan behind me, I handed the two mugs of tea to Bonnie and Scarlett who thanked me. I gave them both smiles and went back into the kitchen to grab my own mug of tea. Once it was in my hands, I turned around and walked back into the living room, sitting down next to Stefan on the love couch.

"You have a beautiful home, Riley," Damon complimented, breaking the silence.

"Thank you," I accepted.

"Sorry we missed dinner," he said. "Scarlett was bent on picking out desert and it took a little longer than we thought it would."

I looked over at Scarlett to see her staring down at her mug, still quiet.

"That's alright," I responded, looking back over at him.

Damon smirked and took a sip of his tea mug, relaxing back into his chair.

* * *

_Bonnie, Scarlett, and Damon had left a couple of minutes ago and Stefan and I were up in my room, going over the history homework. _

_"Listen, I'm sorry about before with Damon," Stefan apologized. _

_"You have to stop apologizing," I told him with a laugh at the end, looking up from the textbook. "It's fine. I understand that you two are having problems. All siblings do at one point in their lives." Stefan nodded his head and I moved on from the sibling subject. "Tonight wasn't so bad, was it? I had fun for the most part."_

_"Mm," Stefan grunted. "That makes one of us."_

_"Come on it wasn't that bad in the beginning at least," I said, falling silent when Stefan reached his hand up and traced one finger over my lips. My eyes flickered down to his lips and I could feel my breath get caught in my throat as he moved his hand to cup my cheek. _

_He slowly leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine for a soft kiss that set butterflies loose in my stomach. He pulled away a bit with his lips still brushing my very lightly. I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his, snaking my arms around his neck, pulling him closer to me. Stefan removed his hand from my cheek and grabbed the History book in my lap, throwing it on to the floor. I smiled into the kiss as he leaned me back on my bed and he climbed over me. _

_Pushing him backwards, I kept our lips attached as I laid him on his back and straddled his waist. I pulled away from the heated kiss to take a breath. After the oxygen was in my lungs, I kissed him once more, trailing my hands over his chest. A sudden surge of confidence ran through me when I heard him groan under my touch and I pulled my lips away from his and sat up. Gripping the bottom of my shirt, I pulled it over my head and threw it on the ground, leaving me in my jeans and bra. I leaned down to kiss him once more and felt his hands run along the bare skin of my back. I pulled away from the little kiss and he grabbed the bottom of his shirt and pulled it over his head slowly. _

_When his shirt was off of his torso, I looked at his face and saw Tyler's face with Damon's ice blue eyes staring at me. I screamed and jumped off of him, backing into my desk._

I shot up in bed, breathing rapidly. My heart was pounding in my chest and my lungs felt as if they were being squished. I continued to take shallow breaths until my heart began to beat steadily and my breathing was started to become normal again.

I laid back in bed and took a couple more deep breaths before closing my eyes once more, praying that I wouldn't have that dream ever again.

* * *

"Ooh," I cooed as Stefan walked over to me from the football field where he was talking with the rest of the team. "Look at you. You look hot in your jersey."

Stefan shrugged, letting the compliment roll off his back. When he was standing in front of me, I grabbed one of his hands and gave it a squeeze.

"Tanner told me that my skills were too good to pass up so now I'm playing tonight," Stefan said.

"Wow, I scored a pro-football player. Good job, Riley," I teased Stefan, earning an eye roll from him.

"You dated a football start before," he said, speaking of Tyler.

"Yeah, but he wasn't as amazing as you are on the field," I told him.

Stefan laughed and shook his head after hearing my response, looking down at the ground. He reached his hand into his back pocket and looked up at me. "I hope you don't think this is too soon or weird…" he pulled his hand out of his pocket with a thin box in hand. "But I wanted you to have this." He opened the lid of the box and showed me what was inside.

I gasped and stared at the bracelet that was laying in the box. It was a white gold bracelet with multiple diamonds encrusted in the band. There were a few gem stones on the band as well that were colored black. In the middle of the bracelet, there was a _very _tiny charm that hung from the band.

"Oh, my God," I gasped once more, covering my mouth with my hand. "Stefan, it's beautiful." I reached out slowly and took it from the box, holding the bracelet carefully in my hand.

"I've had it forever and I never wanted to give it to anyone until now," he said with a charming smile on his face. I smiled in return and looked down at the bracelet. "I'd very much like it if you'd wear it for me, for good luck."

I nodded my head and carefully slipped the band on to my hand. I looked down at it and smiled. My grandmother's ring was on my finger and it matched the bracelet perfectly.

"I love it," I cooed, looking back up at Stefan.

"I also wanted to thank you for pushing me to try out for the team," Stefan said. "It feels really good to be on a team."

"We're a pair," I said. "One plays a sport, the other sits and watches."

"We're a work in progress," Stefan offered. I nodded my head and grabbed his hand, giving it a squeeze.

"We'll figure it out," I told him in all confidence.

My eyes flickered down to his lips and then back up to his eyes to see him looking at my lips. I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his, sharing an innocent kiss. He reached his hand up to my shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze before pulling away from the kiss.

I smiled up at him and watched him back away slowly to go rejoin the team to fit in one last practice before the game.

* * *

The crowd of students were gathered around Tanner who was trying to talk as I pushed my way through the teenagers to get a better look at the bonfire and Tanner. The football team was standing on the opposite side of the fire and they were all looking up at Tanner. They didn't look like they were mentally here since they were most likely mentally preparing for the game.

I looked along the row of players and spotted Stefan. He was looking directly at me with a smile on his lips. I smiled back at him quickly and looked down at the ground, blushing. I looked back up however, and smiled at Stefan again who was still smiling at me with his green eyes sparkling.

"We've got some great new talent tonight starting on offense and I'm going to tell you right now it has been a long time since I have seen a kid like this with hands like these," Tanner boomed over the speakers. Still looking at Stefan, I shot him a wink, knowing that Tanner was talking about him. The crowd cheered and whooped while the team jostled Stefan around, cheering for him. Stefan gave them all a thankful smile and then looked back at me. His smile grew bigger if that was even possible. "Let's give it up for Stefan Salvatore!"

The crowd continued to cheer and I clapped for Stefan, making him chuckle to himself and shake his head in embarrassment. I rolled my eyes at him and looked to my side to see Bonnie, Caroline, Scarlett, and Elena in their cheerleading uniforms, waving their pompoms around. I smiled and waved at them when they shot me smiles and waved.

Turning my head to look back at Stefan, I saw people slowly flooding towards the tailgate with Stefan trailing behind them. Confused as to what was going on, I left the people around me who were invested in Tanner's speech and followed the small crowd. When I finally broke through the people, I saw Tyler standing in front of Stefan with a pissed and confused expression and Jeremy Gilbert, Elena's little brother, push himself off of the ground with a broken beer bottle in one of his hands. When he finally got up from the ground, Jeremy turned around with a crazed glint in his eye and swung the broken beer bottle at Tyler who tried to punch Stefan but failed miserably.

"Jeremy! Don't!" I cried out as I saw the beer bottle flying towards Stefan's outreached hand. Before anyone could move to stop Jeremy, the bottle sliced through Stefan's hand and Matt came rushing in to handle Tyler.

I gasped in shock and ran over to Jeremy who looked like he was going to vomit at any moment.

"What the hell, Jeremy?" I asked him, shoving him up against the tailgate of a truck. "This isn't you." Jeremy rolled his eyes at me.

"I don't need your help, Riley," he snapped trying to push me away.

"Put your head up, you're bleeding," I told him, ignoring his comment.

Jeremy slapped my hand away from his face. "I'm fine."

"Yeah, you smell fine, you dick," I hissed. "Now just calm down and let me help you."

"Just stop, okay? Stop acting like you're my sister," he spat before storming away from me.

I turned to watch him leave and watched Vicki walk after him and then turned my head to Stefan. I rushed over to him.

"Your hand," I said, trying to grab it to look at the damage.

"No, no, no," Stefan started, quickly pulling his hand behind his back. "It's fine."

I shook my head and grabbed his arm, puling it out from behind his back. He balled his hand up in a fist and wouldn't open it. "I'm pretty sure getting cut across your hand isn't fine, Stefan. How deep is it? Is it bad? Does it hurt?" I tried to pry his fingers apart but had no luck until he gave in a moment later, opening his hand to reveal nothing but an orange line across his palm where the cut was.

I let go of his hand and stared at it in disbelief, shaking my head. "But I saw it, Stefan. I saw your hand get cut with my own two eyes."

"He missed," Stefan said, making me look up at him. "It's not my blood, Riley. I'm fine." He wiped his hand across his jeans and showed me his palm once more. The orange line was gone. "See?"

"But the glass cut your hand," I replied, trying to make sense of what I saw and what I was shown now.

"I'm okay," Stefan said, reassuring me. "I'm okay." I looked back down at his hand, still at a loss for words and logical thought. "It's almost kickoff time, all right? So I'll see you after the game."

I nodded my head and with that, Stefan walked around me and head off towards the locker rooms while I just stood there, utterly dumbfounded.

* * *

"Bonnie," I called out, seeing her standing at the edge of the cheerleading line. She looked up at me and I motioned her forward. She jogged over to me. "Can I ask you a question that involves a serious no-joke response?"

"Of course," Bonnie said with concern lacing her words. "What is it?"

"The bad mojo," I started. "When you touched Stefan and you had that response—"

"Forget I even said that," Bonnie dismissed. "Your dinner-party totally won me over."

"No, seriously. What was it? Did you see something, or...?"

Bonnie sighed, giving in.

"It wasn't clear like a picture. Like today I keep seeing the same numbers I told you about."

"Yeah? What does that have to do with Stefan?"

"When I touched him, it was a feeling," she explained. "It vibrated through me, and it was cold and…"

"And what?" I pushed, wanting to know what she meant.

"It was death," she answered, making me jump back a little in shock. "It's what I imagine death to be like."

* * *

The game was set to start in half an hour and I was at my car, grabbing a sweatshirt that I was going to need for later on. After I grabbed the sweatshirt from the back seat, I shut my car door and locked the vehicle before turning around to walk away. However, I came face to face with none other than Damon Salvatore.

He had a smirk on his face and his all black outfit made him blend in with the night.

"Uh, hi, Damon," I greeted, not really knowing how to address him anymore. The feeling of discomfort from last night crept back into my stomach and I wanted to get away from him as soon as possible.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to support my brother's team," he responded with a coy grin on his face.

"The field is over there," I informed him, pointing towards the football field that was already flooding with people.

"I know that, I just saw you and thought I would say hi," Damon said.

"Why does it sound like there is alternate meaning behind what you just said?" I questioned, letting my curiosity get the best of me.

"That's because I do have other intentions," Damon responded. "But so do you."

I knotted my eyebrows together in confusion and tilted my head to the side. "I do?"

"Mm-hm," Damon mumbled. "I see them." He paused and looked me directly in the eye, making me feel tiny from the weight of his gaze. "You want me."

"Excuse me?" I asked him, offended that he would be so bold as to say a complete lie to my face.

"I get you, Riley," he said. "I know how girls like you work. I get to you and you find yourself drawn to me. You think about me when you don't want to think about me," he trailed off. "I bet you've even dreamed about me."

I tensed up and shook my head quickly.

"You shouldn't be saying these things, Damon," I told him. "You are with my best friend."

Damon ignored my comment and looked me directly in the eyes, coming a little closer to me. "And right now, you want to kiss me." With a smirk plastered on his face, he started to lean in towards me but I pushed his chest away from me and slapped him across the face, repulsed by his actions.

"I don't know what mind games you are playing, but let's get one thing straight," I hissed, letting my anger get the best of me. "If you ever try that again, I will do something worse that slapping you. You're with Scarlett so act like you aren't some single douche bag. Got it?"

Without waiting for a response, I brushed past the older Salvatore and headed towards the football field, ready to get the game over with so I could go home and just wind down from the hectic night.

* * *

The game never had a chance to start after Matt found Tanner's body in the parking lot, drained of all blood. The opposing team was sent home while the paramedics arrived to take Tanner's body away and investigate the scene.

I was by my car with Stefan, trying to process all that had happened in the past couple of hours. Stefan's hand was cut but wasn't, Damon advanced on me, Bonnie associated Stefan's touch with death, and now Tanner was dead.

"What kind of animal could be doing all this?" I asked Stefan, breaking the silence between us. "And why would it come out of the woods and attack someone in the middle of town?"

"I don't know," Stefan said, placing his hands on my upper arm, giving them a comforting squeeze. He moved his hands from my biceps to my cheeks and cupped them, smoothing my skin over with his thumbs. "I don't know."

I took his left hand in mine and pulled it away from my face, looking down at it. "I was _so _sure that you cut your hand. I saw it."

"I'm fine," Stefan assured me. He grabbed my other hand and held them both between his hands, bringing them up to his lips. "I'm fine, okay?" Stefan brushed his lips over my hands. "We're fine. That's what matters."

I nodded my head and looked into his eyes. He let out a sigh and pulled me into a tight hug. I wrapped my arms around him and held him close, not wanting this moment to end. I felt secure in his arms and all I wanted to do was stay in them.

But we don't always get what we want.

* * *

**Hello, there! I hope you liked this chapter. I would really love to hear your thoughts on it and the story overall. (;**

**Would you guys mind doing me a small favor? Could you go check out the story **One More Night **by **BellaSalvatore1918**? The story is a Season One FanFic and it is a Damon/OC. I really think you guys would enjoy it! **

**Thanks for everything **

**-NS1918 xoxo**


	4. Family Ties

**Sorry that it has been so long since an update. I have been busy and I have published a new story so I was working on that for a while. (:**

**I hope you can forgive my break and I really hope that you enjoy this chapter. **

**Please refer to the disclaimer in the first chapter. **

* * *

**Family Ties**

_"I can confirm that a twelve-foot puma mountain lion attacked a hunter and was subsequently shot and killed. The hunter is in stable condition."_

_"To repeat, the animal terrorizing Mystic Falls has been caught. Also curfews and restrictions have been lifted effect of immediately."_

I rolled my eyes hearing Logan Fell, the news anchorman, continue on about how the town was now safe from the animal that was attacking everybody. There was something that was a little off with Logan, but I didn't really feel like thinking about it any further.

I grabbed the remote from the side table next to the couch and muted the volume before going back to polishing my grandmother's ring. I had to give it to Tyler who was coming by later so he could bring it to his house for the Founders' Ball display.

The doorbell rang and I put my ring down on the coffee table in front of the couch before walking over to the door. I paused by the door looking in the mirror and looked at my reflection. My hair was in a messy bun but I really didn't care enough. I shrugged my shoulders and turned to the door and opened it.

When the door was fully open, I smiled seeing Stefan standing on my doorstep with his hands in his pockets and his shoulders raised a little. His green eyes were sparkling in the sunlight. They were just so captivating.

"Hi," he greeted, a smile spreading across his lips.

I chuckled and grabbed his hand, pulling him into the house. I shut the door behind him and turned to him with a smile, walking closer to him. Stefan grinned down at me and his hands found their way to my hips while my arms snaked around his neck.

"Hi there," I returned, giving him a smile before placing my lips on his. Stefan smiled into the kiss and tugged my hips closer to his body while I pulled his head closer to mine.

"Whoa," my mom called out from the top of the stairs. "Mom in the house."

I pulled away from Stefan quickly and looked up at my mom as she made her way down the stairs. I gave her a glare, letting her know that I wasn't happy with her at the moment.

"Uh, sorry," Stefan apologized, pulling his hands behind his back and looking down at the floor.

"Relax, Stefan," my mom said with a smile on her face. "I was just leaving."

My mom sent me a wink before she grabbed her purse from the table in the foyer and walked out of the door, leaving Stefan and I alone.

"Sorry about her," I apologized, pulling Stefan into the living room with me. "She is one of those moms who thinks that she is cool but she really is just embarrassing."

"It's okay," Stefan said with a chuckle. "I think she's pretty cool."

I rolled my eyes and gave him a smile.

"So what brings you here, Salvatore?" I questioned.

"Do I need a reason to come and see my girlfriend?" Stefan asked, sitting down on the couch, pulling me down with him.

I let out a giggle and shook my head.

"How's practice going without Tanner?" I asked him, wrapping his arms around my neck as I leaned back into his chest.

"It's pretty rough, not going to lie," he said while intertwining our fingers together.

I looked up at him and gave him a sad smile.

"What happened to Tanner was just awful," I said. "I'm just glad the monster that did all of this was finally killed."

Stefan's body tensed for the slightest second under mine and then he relaxed once more. He didn't say anything after that, he just bent his head down and kissed the top of my head. I relaxed into his arms and closed my eyes, enjoying this small moment.

"What are you doing with your grandmother's ring?" Stefan asked, breaking the silence.

I looked over at the ring and unwrapped Stefan's arms from around my neck, leaning over to grab the ring. I sat back in the couch and looked down at it.

"The Founders' Ball is tomorrow and the Lockwoods asked if I could lend them my grandmother's ring," I explained. "I really don't want to but my mom promised that we would lend it to them for the cause."

"Why do they want your ring? Doesn't your grandmother live on the West Coast?"

"Every member on my mom's side of the family was born here in this town," I said. "My grandmother moved to the other side of the country when her mother was murdered in an animal attack. She said she didn't want to be around the place where her mother was murdered. She had my mom her though before she moved and left my mom with her husband."

"Whoa," Stefan said.

"Yeah, we have some crazy drama in our family," I said. "But the past is the past. I'm not going to get worked up over it."

Stefan nodded his head and placed a hand on my knee, softly squeezing it. I gave him a small smile and looked back down at the ring in my hand. I slipped it on my finger and held my hand out, looking at it. I shook my head and took it off of my finger and then looked back up at Stefan as an idea popped into my head.

"What do you think of me in a nice dress?" I asked, leaning on the back of the couch.

"Why do you ask?" Stefan pressed, furrowing his eyebrow with a small smile on his lips.

"The Founders' Ball is tomorrow and I don't have a date," I told him. "So, if you answer the question right, I may consider you for my date," I teased, sending him a wink after I finished.

Stefan shook his head and sent me a smile.

"Stefan Salvatore, would you like to be my date to the Founders' Ball?" I asked him, putting the joking manner aside.

With a genuine smile, Stefan nodded his head and accepted the proposition.

"I'll go with you to the Ball, Daniels," Stefan said in mock annoyance tone.

I gave him a smile and leaned forward, placing a sweet kiss on his cheek. Stefan grabbed the side of my face and turned to face me, placing his lips on mine. I smiled into the kiss, loving the feeling of his soft lips on mine.

I pulled away from the kiss and settled down in the couch next to him, leaning my head on his chest.

* * *

The next day, I was sitting in the kitchen at the bar, painting my nails when the doorbell rang. My mother was getting her hair done at the salon down in town so I was home alone. I sighed and stuck the brush back down in the bottle of paint and walked to the door. I opened the door and held back a scoff when I saw Tyler standing there with a cocky smile on his face.

"Hello, Riley," Tyler greeted, drawing out my name.

I rolled my eyes in disgust and looked back at him with an non-amused expression. "What do you want, Tyler?"

"Want to be my date to this stupid Founders' Ball?" he asked with a coy smile.

"No," I answered with a laugh. "And even if I wasn't already going with someone the answer would still be no."

"Who are you going with? Stefan?" Tyler scoffed.

"What's it to you, Lockwood?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Why are you hanging around him so much?" he asked with confused eyes.

"Well, that is kind of what boyfriends and girlfriends do," I replied with shrug.

"Wait. You two are dating?" Tyler questioned.

"Uh, yeah," I said in a "duh" tone. "Where have you been the past week?"

I rolled my eyes and turned to the tiny table that was next to the door and picked up the box that contained my grandmother's ring. Turning back to Tyler, I sighed and handed him the box, not wanting to fight with him anymore about Stefan.

"Make sure you don't lose it, Tyler," I snapped at him. "That ring is really important to my family."

"Don't you trust me?" Tyler asked.

"No," I said in a matter-of-fact tone before slamming the door in his face.

I turned back to the kitchen and sat back down at the counter and finished painting my nails. Before I resumed painting, I looked up at the clock and cursed under my breath when I saw what time it was. Stefan was going to be here in an hour to pick me up and I haven't even started my hair yet. I quickly painted my nails and rushed upstairs after blowing on them to get dressed.

Reaching my room, I shut the door behind me and stripped all my clothes, slipping into the cherry red dress. The dress stopped mid-thigh and had a very deep neckline that ended in the middle of my chest. The back was low and revealed my entire back to anyone who wanted to see. The waistband clenched around my waist and the oversized pleats fanned out around my legs. I was really happy with the dress.

After I was finished getting the dress situated, I walked into in the bathroom and began to style my hair to the shape that I wanted it. When it was done, it was out of my face in a bun on the right side of my neck, with my semi-bangs curling out of my face.

I set down the curler and opened one of my drawers and pulled out a deep red tube of lipstick, applying a layer to my lips before putting everything away, appeased with my appearance.

Walking into my bedroom, I heard the doorbell go off and I could feel butterflies erupt in my stomach, knowing that Stefan was downstairs. I quickly slid into my nude pumps and crept down the stairs. When I reached the front door, I took a deep breath and opened the door.

Stefan was standing on the other side of my doorframe with a smile on his lips. I smiled and return and looked down at his outfit. He had a cobalt blue dress shirt on with not tie around his neck. A suit jacket was pulled over the dress shirt and he had on black dress pants and nice shoes.

"You clean up nice," I complimented, walking out of the house. I closed the door behind me and locked the deadbolt before turning back to Stefan.

"You look stunning," he told me, looking down at my dress.

I felt a blush creep to my cheeks and I gave him a smile in thanks.

Stefan stuck his arm out for me and I looped my arm through his and smiled as he walked with me down to his car that was sitting in front of my house.

* * *

"Hi, Mayor Lockwood," I greeted as Stefan and I walked up to the doorstep of the Lockwood's mansion.

"Hey!" he exclaimed walking over to the door. "Hey, guys, come on in."

I looked over at Stefan and gave him a smile as we stepped through the threshold. Stefan smiled down at me and I returned the gesture.

"Who's this?" Tyler's dad asked me, referring to Stefan.

"Stefan Salvatore," Stefan introduced himself. "I just moved here this school year. I live with my uncle at the Boarding House."

Tyler's dad smiled and turned his attention back to me.

"I'm surprised you aren't here with Tyler," he said.

"Tyler and I aren't on speaking terms, let alone dating anymore," I informed him. "Plus he is probably here with Vicki Donovan somewhere."

Mayor Lockwood just nodded his head and gave a forced smile to me and Stefan before excusing himself.

Stefan ducked his head down to my ear and started to speak in a whisper. "Something tells me that he isn't too fond of me. It seems he really liked you and Tyler together."

I let out a laugh and shook my head as he pulled his head away from my face.

"Well, it's his loss," I said. "And besides, I'm with you now."

Stefan smiled causing me to smile. I grabbed his hand and pulled him into another room, greeting people from town and school.

* * *

A few hours had passed and now it was dark outside and more people were on the premises including my mother who had arrived an hour after Stefan and I. We had met up with Caroline and Bonnie so far and talked with them for a while. Matt decided not to come to the event and I was avoiding Tyler and his confrontation that he was bound to have with Stefan. I hadn't seen Scarlett around and I was hoping that she would come soon. She practically lived for events like this.

I was looking at the original roster for the first Founders' Ball and scanned the list. There were so many familiar last names.

Feeling a hand on my back, I turned my head to the side to see Stefan standing behind me with a gentle smile on his face.

"Look at all these names," I said turning back to the roster. "Sheriff William Forbes. Mayor Benjamin Lockwood." I paused when I saw my last name on the list. "Alice Daniels." My eyes jumped to the name below my ancestor's and I did a double take.

"Is that Stefan Salvatore?" I asked. "And Damon Salvatore?"

I looked over to Stefan to see him standing there with an open mouth, trying to say something but he was beaten to it by another voice that was familiar.

"The _original _Salvatore brothers."

Stefan and I turned our heads and saw Damon and Scarlett walk towards us. Scarlett looked scared just like the night when we all had dinner together. I tensed and Stefan's hand that was originally on my back fell down to my waist and he pulled me closer to his body.

"Our ancestors. Tragic story, actually," Damon continued, stopping when he was right in front of us.

"We don't need to bore them with stories of the past," Stefan said, stopping his brother from continuing on.

"I'm sure it's not boring, Stefan," I told him, semi-interested in their family history. I looked at Scarlett and noticed that she was sort of shaking. I felt my blood boil knowing that it most likely had to do with being scared of Damon. I felt really bad for her and I really wanted to help her but I didn't want to stick my nose into her business at the same time.

I turned to Stefan and gave him a smile. "Why don't you and Scarlett go dance while Damon fills me in on your family history?" I suggested and then shot my eyes over to Scarlett and then back to Stefan.

Stefan caught my drift and nodded his head, extending his hand to Scarlett who eagerly took it. With a smile, Stefan and Scarlett walked out of the room to go dance while I stood alone with Damon, silently seething. I didn't know what he was doing to Scarlett but it needed to stop.

"I want to apologize to you," Damon started, making me lose track of my thoughts from the sudden force in his voice. "I wasn't in my right mind set the other night when I tried to kiss you."

I remained silent and still, not really knowing how to respond to his apology. Sure, it sounded genuine, but his body language said otherwise.

"I've been seeing a therapist and she says I've been acting out, trying to punish Stefan for more things than the whole Katherine incident," he explained further.

"Katherine incident?" I asked, letting my curiosity get the best of me. I know it wasn't my business but a small part of me wanted to know more about Stefan. I didn't know much about him, but I understood that we have only known each other for two weeks at most. I didn't expect him to give me a two hundred page biography on his life so far.

"You two still haven't had the whole exes conversation yet?" Damon asked.

"I'm not going to just randomly bring up Katherine and demand to know what happened, Damon," I told him. "I understand that people have a hard time talking about some topics."

Damon just gave a curt nod. "Well, Katherine was a very beautiful girl. She sort of looked like Elena, you could say. Stefan and I were both smitten with her and she was more than happy to flirt right back, but in the end she made a decision about who she wanted to be with for real," Damon said, looking around the room at the artifacts before looking back at me. "She chose to be with me."

"And?" I asked, not really seeing a whole deep rooted issue here.

"And Stefan didn't like that so he did some rash things," Damon added. "I'll save you the details."

I stared up at Damon in disbelief. Something about this story didn't check out but I wasn't going to push it.

"Did I ever tell you about Alice?" he asked, pushing his luck.

"Alice?" I asked. Did they seriously have this many problems with girls?

"She was one of our friends from way back then," Damon started. "She was _very _fond of Stefan but the poor boy never noticed her. He was too busy pining for Katherine. Alice was the—"

I cut Damon off, not wanting to talk about the topic of girls in their past at the moment.

"I don't want to dive into this story, Damon," I told him.

He just shrugged his shoulders and walked over to the model of the church that was located in Mystic Falls during the Civil War. I turned on my heel and just watched him, keeping a small distance between us.

"The Salvatores have been cursed with sibling rivalry and it all started with the original brothers," Damon said, pointing back to the original guest roster. "Actually, back before the Civil War, the Salvatores used to be royalty in this town, believe it or not." I nodded my head as a signal for him to continue. "Then the war happened and the Battle of Willow Creek took place. But the history books leave out a very important fact."

"What was that?"

"There were civilians in the church and they were killed instantly when the Confederate Army fired on the church thinking that it was housing Union supplies."

I stared at him in shock. I knew that there were civilians in the church because Stefan had brought that up one day in class but I didn't know that they had all died.

"The civilians weren't in there by accident, though," Damon continued. "They were believed to be Union sympathizers. They were rounded up and placed in the church, knowing that there was a tip that the church was housing weapons for the other side and it was to be fired upon as soon as possible."

I looked at the replica of the church in shock and tried to imagine what it must have been like back then to experience the pain and loss that occurred that day.

"That's a really heavy topic," I muttered under my breath.

Damon nodded his head in agreement and stuck his arm out, waiting for me to link arms with him.

"Let's go check up on Scarlett and Stefan," he suggested.

I nodded my head and hesitated before placing my arm through his. He gave me a smirk before we exited the room and walked down the large staircase. We weaved our way through the throng of people crammed in the hallway that led out to the backyard and finally reached the concession table where drinks were being passed out.

I saw Stefan and Scarlett talking near the table and relaxed when I saw Scarlett smiling instead of shaking in fright.

"What did we miss?" Damon called out, grabbing the attention of Stefan and Scarlett as we got closer to the two.

"We were just chatting," Stefan said, looking down at Damon's arm linked with mine. I pulled my arm out of his brother's and walked over to Stefan's side, linking arms with him.

Stefan gave me a smile and I returned one before looking up at Damon who was standing next to Scarlett now.

"Drink, Damon?" Stefan asked, grabbing a glass of champagne and holding it out for his brother to take.

"No, thanks, I'll pass," he declined, giving Stefan a strained smile.

Stefan just shrugged and set the glass back down on the table before looking down at me.

"Would you like to dance with me?" Stefan asked.

I nodded my head. Stefan gave me a smile and then pulled me away from Scarlett and Damon who were standing side by side. Walking over to an empty spot on the dance floor, Stefan twirled me around and then pulled me into his chest. I gave a tiny laugh and smiled as arm wrapped around my waist and his other hand held mine up in the air. I wrapped my free arm around his shoulder and looked into his eyes with a smile permanently etched on to my face.

I just couldn't help but smile when I was around Stefan. He made me feel happy and special even though it sounds like a cliché.

"Thank you for distracting Scarlett for a little bit," I said to him.

"It was no problem," he said with a smile on his face. "I hope Damon didn't drive you too crazy while you two were alone."

I chuckled and shook my head. "He was actually decent and he apologized and explained that his lashing out was all due to what happened with Katherine."

Stefan nodded his head and remained silent.

"I'm not going to push you to open up about her and tell me everything, Stefan," I told him, hoping that it would make him feel more comfortable with the situation. "I just want you to know that I'll be here to listen when you decide to talk about it."

Stefan gave me a smile and dipped his head down to plant a small kiss on my lips. I gave him a small smile when he pulled away.

I leaned my head against his chest and looked over at Scarlett only to see her shaking as she walked up into the Lockwood's house. I pulled my head off of Stefan's chest quickly and gave him an apologetic smile.

"Can you excuse me for a moment?" I asked him.

Stefan gave me a reassuring smile and nodded his head, letting me slip past him after giving his shoulder a squeeze. I quickly made my way through the crowd and rushed up the steps into the Lockwood house and saw Bonnie and Caroline by the staircase.

"Hey, did you guys see Scarlett pass by?" I asked them.

"Yeah, she headed for the bathroom, I think," Bonnie said.

I gave them both a smile and walked towards the bathroom, stopping outside the door when I heard heavy breathing from the other side of the door.

I didn't like what I was about to do, but I knew that it needed to be done. I needed to go and help my friend out because she clearly wasn't okay and I was pretty sure that Damon was the one causing her these anxiety attacks.

I opened the bathroom door and saw Scarlett looking in the vanity mirror on the wall opposite of the sinks. The deep blue dress that she had on was short and ended around her knee and the white shawl that covered her shoulders was stretched across her back as she clutched the sides of the vanity's table. Her hair that was originally blown out was now slightly messy due to her running her hands through it most likely.

I slowly walked over to her and placed a hand on her back, making her jump and turn to face me. Her eyes were wide and glassy, looking like she was ready to cry.

"Scarlett, are you okay?" I asked gently, not wanting to overstep my boundaries.

She nodded her head and turned back to the mirror. I watched her as she pulled her hair to one side and started to comb through it with her fingers. When her hair was pulled away, I saw something peek out from under her shawl and walked a little closer to her, to look at it more closely.

There were teeth indentations in her skin and I could feel my heart rise to my throat and get caught. I was terrified to know what that actually was.

"What is this?" I asked Scarlett, tracing the teeth marks. Scarlett jumped out of her skin and pulled her body away from my hand.

"It's nothing, Riley," she said, trying to cover up the bite mark with her hair again.

"Scarlett," I said in a worried tone. "What is going on? Is Damon hurting you? Is that why you have been acting so strange around him?"

Scarlett shook her head and pulled her shawl around her shoulder tighter and walked out of the room, leaving me to think only the worst thoughts about the oldest Salvatore.

How could he have done this to Scarlett? She was just a junior in high school and a teenager none the less. What kind of a cruel and/or sick person would do that to a girl?

Anger took over my mind and I stormed out of the bathroom, ready to hunt down and scold Damon. He needed to learn that he was going to get what was coming to him and that it would be worse if he continued to harm Scarlett. Riley wasn't going to allow her closest friend to be harmed for the amusement of some random man.

I walked out of the Lockwood's house and stormed down to Damon who had a smirk on his face as he leaned against the table that held glasses of alcohol. I walked up to him and pushed his shoulder forcefully, knocking the smirk right off of his lips.

"There is something wrong with you," I started. "First of all, you need to keep me out of your problems that involve your brother. Sort them out without me getting pulled into the mix. And second of all, you need to stay away from Scarlett. Whatever you are doing to her, knock it off or else I will go straight to the sheriff and make a case against you. She will not be some puppet for your amusement."

Damon looked at me with a confused expression and remained silent during my threat.

"No one hurts my friends and gets away with it," I hissed. "Stay _away _from her."

Without waiting for his response, I stormed away from Damon and walked over to Stefan who was standing near the bridge outside the tent that covered the dance floor. When he saw me walk towards him a look of concern flooded his features and he extended his arms towards me. I walked into his arms and held him tight, both thankful for his actions and still agitated at Damon.

"What's the matter?" Stefan asked, rubbing my back in soothing circles.

"It's Damon," I said, holding back the sobs that wanted to escape from my chest.

"What did he do?" Stefan asked, pulling me from his body so he could look into my eyes.

"There are teeth marks and bruises all over Scarlett's body, Stefan," I told him. "She is flustered and acting like someone else when she is around him. She is never scared and nervous around boys."

I searched Stefan's eyes for a sign that he understood what I was talking about and he just clenched his jaw and looked around, not meeting my gaze.

"Why don't you look surprised?" I asked.

"I'm handling it, Riley," he started. "I knew that something was going on so I am looking into it."

"Looking into it?" I questioned. "Stefan, you should be having him arrested."

"I know you probably don't understand and I don't expect you to," Stefan said. "But there are some things that I can't and may never be able to tell you. I just need you to trust me."

"Trust you?" I repeated. "I do trust you Stefan, but that's the thing. I don't know much about you and I don't know where I'm putting my trust. And I get that you haven't told me everything; I really do. But I just need you to fill me in on some things, Stefan. And when those things regard your brother and my _best friend, _I really need you to tell me what's going on."

Stefan moved his gaze to something behind me and tensed before looking down at me once more. "I'm so sorry," he said. "I have to go but I will call you later, okay?"

He didn't even wait for my answer; he just walked away, leaving me with questions as to what was going on.

* * *

"Scarlett?" I called out, seeing a person push themselves off of the ground and stand up.

Turning around, I saw Scarlett with tears in her eyes and rushed over to her.

"Scarlett, what happened? Are you okay?" I asked as I gripped her shoulders and turned her so she was facing me.

Tears were streaming down her face and she was breathing heavily. I shook my head, knowing that she wasn't fine and I pulled her shaking form into my arms and soothed her.

"Shh," I whispered. "Scarlett, everything is going to be fine. You are going to come over to my house tonight, okay? You're not going to be alone tonight."

I felt Scarlett nod her head and hold me tighter and I felt my heart break for my friend. I was so upset that she was this worked up over something and I wanted to take her place for her so she didn't have to go through this.

But I knew I couldn't and that the best thing that I could do was be there for her.

I pulled away from the hug and put an arm around her shoulders, hugging her into my side.

"Let's go, okay?"

Scarlett nodded her head and then rested her head on my shoulder as we walked back up to the party to find my mom and go back to my house.

* * *

**Okay, so quite a few things happened in that chapter. Finally we are getting to the good stuff! After this next chapter, things will take a turn for the worse and I will veer off into my own plot that still ties in with the overall plot of the season. **

**I hope you like this chapter and thank you for everything so far. Please leave a review telling me what you liked about this chapter. **

**-NS1918**


	5. You're Undead to Me

**Thanks for all the favorites/follows on the last chapter. This is the last chapter that I will be using the show seriously for. I will still lean towards the overall plot and some scenes, but everything is going to change to fit my plot line. I hope you enjoy this chapter and stay tuned for more. **

**Please refer to the disclaimer in the first chapter. **

* * *

**You're Undead to Me**

The feeling of a pillow slamming into my head repeatedly woke me up on Friday morning, making me groan in frustration. I rolled over and nuzzled my head back into my pillow and curled up under the covers, wanting to go back asleep. However, the person hitting me with a pillow continued to swat me with the soft object before tossing it to the floor and pulling the covers from around my body. I let out a cry and rolled back over to see Scarlett looking down at me with a smile.

"Why?" I whined, grabbing the pillow behind my head, throwing it at her.

She laughed as she dodged it and then sat down at the edge of my bed. She had been sleeping over at my house for the past six nights ever since the incident at the Founders' Ball. She had recovered from the incident just fine and the bite marks were almost entirely gone and Damon hadn't been heard from since the end of the Ball.

"We have to get ready for school," she answered. "Your mom just left for work and we actually have to go to school instead of blowing it off like we have the last couple of days."

I rolled my eyes but sat up, realizing that I had to go to school today with Scarlett. "Fine."

I reached my hand over to my night stand and grabbed my phone, checking the lock screen for any text messages or calls but found nothing on my screen other than Twitter notifications from Zac Efron. A long and loud sigh escaped my lips and I tossed my phone down on to the opposite side of the bed.

"Still nothing from Stefan?" Scarlett asked, giving me a sympathetic look.

"Nope," I responded, pulling the covers up to cover my legs. "I haven't heard anything since he left that vague voice mail three days ago and that text from four days ago. They all had the bottom line of 'I'm busy at the moment so don't bother to call me.'"

"Don't read too much into it," Scarlett told me, nudging my leg. "He may be in school today and maybe you two can sort things out."

I nodded my head and looked over at my phone, willing it to ring with a text message or something from him.

"Are you okay, Riley?" Scarlett questioned, knowing that something was wrong.

I looked over at my friend and sighed, slouching my shoulders.

"Honestly? No. I mean, I told him that I was fine with his secrecy and everything and that I was willing to wait. But when I asked him what was going on with his brother, he just freaked out and left," I answered. I took a deep breath before continuing. "But I'm not going to crawl into a corner and cry over him. I'm not one of those girls who cries over a break up, or if that is even what this is."

"But you really liked this one," Scarlett added. "I'm sorry, Riley."

"Why do you need to apologize?" I asked her. "It's not your fault, it's not Stefan's fault, and I'm pretty sure it's not my fault. It just wasn't meant to be."

Scarlett looked down at her fingers and remained silent, not wanting to respond to my pessimistic comment.

"How're your bruises doing?" I asked her, changing the subject.

She lifted her head up and gave me a smile. "They're almost gone. And just in time for the carwash!"

I rolled my eyes and tossed the comforters off of my bed, getting up to start the day.

"I'm going to go get breakfast ready," Scarlett said before skipping out of the room.

* * *

"The Sexy Suds Carwash is tomorrow," Caroline said as she leaned against the locker beside mine. Scarlett, Elena, and Bonnie were also standing around us, listening to our blonde friend. "The football team and the band have committed. Well, not all the band… just the ones who can pull off a bikini. I want in-your-face sexy."

I rolled my eyes at Caroline's comment and shut my locker door, slinging my tote bag over my shoulder.

"Caroline," I groaned out.

"What are you groaning about, Riley?" she asked me with a scowl on her face. "You are going to be there, too."

"I said no such thing," I told her.

"Yeah, but Stefan's going to be there," she replied. "He's a part of the football team and this is a fundraiser where all of us are half naked. You're going to come and fawn all over him. And while you are there you'll be the person manning the money."

"Caroline. I don't want to go to this stupid fundraiser," I said.

The cheerleading captain just squared her jaw and looked between all of us before walking away from us. I sighed and kicked the locker behind me, knowing that I hurt her feelings.

"Shit," I hissed. "I didn't mean for it to come off like that."

"It's okay," Elena said placing a hand on my shoulder. "She'll get over it."

"It's Caroline Forbes here, Riley," Bonnie added. "You and Care used to be the biggest cheerleading junkies ever."

"But that was before my dad left," I said, looking between the three of them.

"Let's just forget about this incident, okay?" Scarlett suggested. "Class is starting soon and I can't be late."

I nodded my head and watched her leave us after giving us all a smile.

"Hey," a familiar voice said behind me.

I turned around to see Stefan standing behind me with a half-smile on his lips.

"Hey, uh, you know, we have to go be somewhere right now," Bonnie said, grabbing Elena's arm. After sending me a smile, the two of them scurried away, leaving me alone with Stefan.

"I'm so sorry that I haven't called," Stefan apologized when Bonnie and Elena were out of earshot. I looked up at him and gave him a small smile.

"Don't worry about it, Stefan," I told him. "You were busy and I get that."

"I was dealing with my brother," he said, hoping that it would make this situation a little better.

"Dealing with Damon?" I repeated. "So, does that mean that you took care of the whole problem?"

Stefan nodded his head and leaned against my locker. "He won't be coming back."

I stiffened a little, afraid of what that really meant. I mean, I didn't know much about his man. Could he have hurt his brother? Scared him away? Killed his brother?

I shook the bad thoughts out of my head, knowing that I should let him explain himself and not jump to conclusions.

"Listen, I have to be home after school but do you want to meet at the Grill? Say around four? So I can explain everything to you?" Stefan asked me.

I nodded my head and gave him a smile. "See you then."

Turning on my heel, I walked away from Stefan, heading to class. I already wanted it to be four so I could understand what was going on with Stefan.

* * *

Walking into the Grill, I smiled when I saw Matt Donovan shout my name and wave at me. I walked over to him and gave him a hug.

"Where have you been for the last couple of days, Riles?" Matt asked me once he released me from the hug, using the old nickname that he gave me when we were four. "I haven't seen you in school for the last two days."

"I have been home with Scarlett," I answered. "We decided to take two days off of school."

"Already skipping days?" he teased. "Pretty soon you are going to be blowing off school altogether."

I gave him a smile and lightly hit his arm. "Hey, have you seen Stefan? I'm supposed to meet him here."

"Nope," Matt said, looking around the Grill. "Haven't seen him."

I nodded my head and looked down at the pool table.

"Is everything going okay between you two?" Matt asked me, concern lacing his voice.

I looked up at him and looked into his baby blue eyes.

"It's a little bumpy," I told him. "But it's nothing I can't handle."

Matt nodded his head and gave me a smile, holding his pool stick out for me. "Want to kill some time playing pool?"

I chuckled and grabbed the stick from his hands, agreeing to play.

"Fine, but I get to break," I told him with a smile spanning across my face.

* * *

"You know, Vicki and Jeremy have been getting really close to each other lately," Matt told me, venting about his sister. She was doing better since the attack but she was back to drugs and he was worried about his older sister.

"Really? I thought Vicki was with Tyler," I said, striking the cue against one of the solids, sinking it in the pocket.

"She was," Matt said. "But then after the Founders' Ball, she ditched Tyler for not introducing her to his parents and then ran to the Gilberts and hooked up with Jeremy."

"Well, she moves fast," I joked.

I was all lined up, ready to sink another ball when my phone buzzed from my back pocket. I pulled back and pulled my phone out of my pocket, looking at the screen. It was just a text from my mom, wondering when I would be coming home.

"How late is he?" Matt asked, knowing that I was slightly panicking since Stefan was so late.

"He passed the hour mark," I told him, slipping the phone back into my pocket. "But I'm not going to freak out because he is late. He probably got held up back at home."

"Riley, I have known you since we were in diapers," Matt said. "I know that you are freaking out and that is totally normal in this situation."

"Don't turn all mushy on me here, Donovan," I said with a smile on my face. "You're the guy friend. You're supposed to tell me that he's just doing some guy thing and that's why he's late."

Matt let out a laugh and shook his head.

"But you think he's a good guy, right?" I asked Matt, letting my paranoia take over me.

"He's a great football player, he is really smart, and he really likes you," Matt said. "I think that he has potential to be a great guy, Riley." I gave him a thankful smile. "If you want my advice, I say just talk to him."

"Talk to who?"

Matt and I turned our heads quickly to see Stefan Salvatore standing right next to the pool table's alcove. He was looking directly at me and he had an apologetic look on his face.

"I'm so sorry that I'm late, Riley," he said. "I got held up."

"Is everything okay?" I asked him, wanting to know what was going on.

"There was this thing with my uncle," Stefan explained.

I nodded my head and gave him a small smile.

"Okay," Matt said, exhaling a large breath while taking the pool stick from my hand to put up. "I'm going to leave now. You two have fun."

I gave him a smile and waved as he walked away.

"I'm really sorry," Stefan apologized once more.

I shook my head and held a hand up, signaling for him to stop. "You have nothing to apologize for. Things happen. It's okay, really."

"It was just unavoidable," Stefan told me.

"What was unavoidable?" I asked him.

Stefan flickered his eyes down to the pool table and then back up to me when I let out a huff.

"Okay." I was getting a little agitated with Stefan. I kept letting everything slide with him and I needed to stop. I needed answers. I didn't want to be in those relationships where only one person vents and the other person keeps secrets.

I stepped around Stefan and started to walk away but came to a halt when I felt Stefan's hand grab my arm and turn me around gently.

"Riley, please—"

"No, Stefan, don't you see? I give you the benefit of the doubt all the time. I accept the non-answers that you feed me. But I just can't do it anymore. I don't want this relationship to be like the one I had with Tyler who only gave me yes and no answers. I need more than that." I looked into Stefan's eyes and saw the hurt in them. I reached my hand up to cup his face. I ran my thumb along his cheekbone and felt him lean his face into my hand and saw him close his eyes. "What is so awful that you're afraid to tell me?" Stefan opened his eyes to look at me. "I won't run away if you would just tell me."

"I know you."

I pulled my hand away from Stefan's face and stepped back so I was standing beside him to see the man who had spoken from behind me. Stefan's hand slid from my upper arm down to my hand and held it tightly.

The man in front of us looked to be middle aged. His hair was a dark grey and he had wrinkles on his skin. His dark skin tone allowed for his grey beard to stick out more than usual. He was staring straight at Stefan as he looked him up and down. I furrowed my eyebrow in confusion.

"My God," he breathed out as he looked at Stefan.

"I'm sorry?" Stefan asked the man, not knowing what was going on. I looked up at Stefan to see that he was looking at the man with a cautious look to his eyes.

"I know you," the man repeated. "How can it be?"

"I think you have the wrong person, sir," Stefan said.

"You haven't aged a day."

I was still confused as I looked back and forth between the man and Stefan.

"I'm sorry, excuse me," Stefan said to the man, turning his attention down to me. "Hey can we—can I take you home and we can talk about it?"

I shook my head in confusion as Stefan pulled my hand as he walked towards the doors of the Mystic Grill.

"Wait, what was that?" I asked, referring to what just happened. "How does he know you?"

"I-I don't know," Stefan said, sounding as confused as I did. "Uh, nothing."

"Nothing?" I scoffed. "Right. Okay, I have to go, Stefan."

Pulling my hand out of his, I walked through a small crowd of people and exited the Grill, heading home.

* * *

I was laying on my bed all alone, hugging the teddy bear that my mom had gotten me when I was ten; thinking about everything. I thought about Stefan and how all he did was dodge questions and leave me hanging. I thought about Scarlett and how was doing so far. I thought about tomorrow and the Sexy Suds Carwash. I really didn't want to go but I needed to make up with Caroline so I had to go.

My thoughts were interrupted when I heard a knock on my bedroom door. I turned around on my bed to see Stefan standing in my doorway with a sad smile on his face.

"Your mom let me in before she left," he explained, staying in the doorway, not wanting to push his luck. I sat up in my bed and nodded my head, tossing the stuffed bear on to the window seat across from my bed.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him.

He hesitated before walking into my room. He sat down on the edge of my bed and looked up at me.

"I came over to apologize."

"I don't know what you are trying to accomplish by doing this, Stefan," I told him, crossing my legs to make more room for him on the bed.

"You want to know me, right?" he asked. I nodded my head, not really seeing where this was going. "Well, I figure if you're going to dump me, you should at least know who you're dumping."

I looked down at my hands, feeling guilty that I made him think that I was angry with him. In all reality, I wasn't angry with him, I was angry with myself for letting him get away with what he was doing.

"Let's start with Katherine," Stefan said, capturing my attention. I looked up at him and saw that he had shifted closer to me. "She was one of the most beautiful girls that I had ever come across. She had this perfect olive toned skin and a laugh that was captivating. Her laugh was a bit ridiculous but when she laughed, it made you laugh." I nodded my head, letting him know that I was following along. "She was fun. She knew how to have a good time. But she was also impatient and self-entitled and impulsive. Then Damon comes along. He claims that he was with her first. I don't know. I _do _know that I did some things that I'm not proud of." His eyes were hurt and he looked back down at the bed quickly. "My biggest regret is not being able to make it right before she died."

I felt a pang in my heart. I never knew that Katherine had died and I instantly felt like a jerk for hurting Stefan when his ex-girlfriend had died.

"I miss her, but I'm no longer crippled by her loss."

I reached my hand out and grabbed his, giving it a soft squeeze.

"And then there was Alice," Stefan said, bringing up the girl that Damon started to tell me about at the Founders' Ball. "She was one of my best friends. I had known her ever since she was six years old. She was stunning. She had long brown hair that ended at the bottom of her back. She had these piercing blue eyes that could pull you in. And she always smiled just like you do," Stefan said, giving me a smile. "She was Katherine's wing woman you could say. The two girls were conjoined at the hip but they would always bicker with each other. Damon swears up and down that Alice had the biggest crush on me but I never saw it. I knew that Damon liked her. He talked about her non-stop while we were growing up. I could understand why he liked her, I mean she was beautiful, but I loved her like a sister." I nodded my head, knowing what he meant. "Damon was infatuated with her but when Katherine came along, his crush on her faded a little and he started to eye Katherine."

"What happened to Alice?" I asked when Stefan paused in his story.

"She died in the same fire that Katherine died in," Stefan said.

My heart swelled for the man sitting in front of me. I felt bad for him but I knew that he wouldn't like pity so I pushed the feeling back.

"On to lighter topics," Stefan started, leaning back in my bed so he was laying down. "I'm an avid reader."

I smiled down at him as he looked over at me. I was happy that we weren't on the topic of death and past flings anymore.

"A huge Fitzgerald fan," he added. "_The Great Gatsby,_ his masterpiece. But I'm no snob," he said with a slight laugh at the end. "I love some good Grisham. I think _Seinfeld _is the best American television show for the past fifty years, but _I Love Lucy _is all time."

"That's where we disagree," I said, adding my two cents. "_Friends _beats _Seinfeld _any day."

"What?" Stefan exclaimed, propping himself up on his elbows. "No!"

"Yes," I argued. "At least _Friends _has a plot line."

"Okay, yeah, sure. And I'm not on the football team."

I rolled my eyes and threw a pillow from behind me at Stefan. He caught it and sat up, attacking me with the pillow. I let out a laugh and held my hands up, protecting myself from his torment. He threw the pillow to the side and pulled me down so that I was lying beside him and he pushed a strand of my hair out of my eyes. I smiled up at him and ran a hand up his arm that was on the other side of me, holding him up.

"I'm a huge Scorsese fan," he continued, still leaning over me, looking down at me with a smile on his face. "I can watch _Taxi Driver _over and over again."

"What about music?" I asked him.

"It's pretty much across the board. Um, Dylan, Hendrix, Patsy, Willie. Oh, Kanye. You know, I even like that one Justin Bieber song."

I laughed at him for his last favorite and covered my mouth, trying to stop laughing.

"Easy," he chuckled.

"I didn't say anything," I countered.

"That's right, you just laughed at me," Stefan teased.

I just gave him a smile and shook my head, pushing him off of me so I could sit up. Stefan leaned back on his elbow once more and gave me a smile in return. I didn't know what it was about him, but I could never stop smiling around him. I just felt so happy and I couldn't explain why. I wasn't questioning it though.

"I'm glad that you came by tonight," I told him, reaching over on my nightstand to grab the can of Coca-Cola.

"Me, too," Stefan said, placing a hand on my leg, rubbing it softly.

Grabbing the tab that you used to open the can, I flinched when I felt the slim piece of metal slice my finger open.

"Ow! Ah," I put the can back down on the nightstand and looked down at my finger as blood slowly started to seep out of the cut.

"You okay?" Stefan asked, looking over at my finger.

"Yeah, I think so," I said as I got up from the bed and shuffled over to the bathroom. When I entered the bathroom, I turned on the sink and let the water flow, putting my finger under the water, washing the blood away. I shut the water off and dried my finger once the blood was gone.

Walking back out of the bathroom, I looked over at my bed to see Stefan staring at the soda can with a tense expression on his face. He looked up at me quickly when he heard me enter the room. When I saw his face, a gasp escaped my lips and I froze. His eyes were bloodshot and the green irises were darker than usual. Also, there were veins extruding from the skin beneath his eyes.

Stefan quickly turned his face away from me.

"Your face," I started, but stopped, not knowing how to continue the sentence.

"I-I, uh, I think I got something in my eye," Stefan said with his back still facing me.

I walked over to the bed and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Stefan."

He turned his head and stayed still for a while, while I rubbed his shoulder and waited for him to turn back around to face me. When he did, I didn't see the veins under his eyes or bloodshot irises.

"I think I was hallucinating for a second there," I said shaking my head at the vision that appeared in my head of him with darkened eyes. "I'm becoming too paranoid."

"All part of your charm, Riley," he said, taking my hand off of his shoulder, pulling me down to the bed gently.

I gave him a smile and let my eyes flicker down to his lips. When I looked back up at him, I saw that his eyes were on my lips. I noticed him lean in and then stop. He was probably unsure of what my reaction would be due to earlier today. So, I decided to make it easier for him and I closed the distance between our lips and pushed my lips on to his. He kissed back the second our lips touched and I pulled away after one kiss and smiled, biting my bottom lip.

Stefan's hand cupped my cheek and brought my hand closer to his face where we shared kiss after kiss. They were passionate, sweet, and caring little kisses that cause butterflies to swarm in my stomach and a smile to span across my lips.

* * *

"No friend discounts. No freebies. No pay-you-laters. We are _not _running a charity here," Caroline instructed with a smile on her face.

I had shown up earlier this morning and surprised Caroline. She was happy that I came to the fundraiser and I apologized for my comment towards the event. She forgave me and we have been talking ever since. Today, I was to man the money since I wasn't a part of the cheerleading team.

"No, we are not," I agreed, nodding my head at Caroline.

"Hi," Stefan said, coming around the desk where the box for money was set up.

"Hey!" I returned, getting up out of my chair to greet him. Stefan smiled down at me and rubbed my arm in affection as I stood in front of him.

"The even is called _Sexy Suds,_ you know," Caroline commented, shooting me a wink before walking away to help out others at the carwash. I rolled my eyes and looked back at Stefan who had a smile on his face still.

"Did we just get scolded?" he asked.

"And judged, don't forget," I joked.

"Wow."

"I'm sorry, but I guess you're going to have to take that off," I said to Stefan, grabbing his hoddie and playing with the zipper.

Stefan looked down at me and shook his head.

"Ladies first is the saying, right?"

I rolled my eyes and gave him a playful scowl before I gripped the bottom of my shirt and pulled it off over my head without any problems. I smirked when I saw Stefan's eyes widen a little bit when he looked down at my strapless white bikini top. I let a small giggle slip and then unbuttoned my jean shorts, sliding them down my legs. When I bent down to pick them up, I tripped over my own two feet and started to fall back but was caught by Stefan's arms.

I let out a groan and looked up at him. "That was so not sexy," I said, feeling a blush creep up my neck and on to my cheeks.

Stefan shook his head and cupped both of my cheeks with his hands. "I disagree."

Leaning in, Stefan placed his lips on mine and I kissed back, placing my hands on his torso, pulling him closer to me. After the innocent little kiss, Stefan pulled back and I put my hands on top of his, lacing our fingers together.

"You should go and help out at the car wash," I told him, pushing the jacket off of his arms and throwing it on the chair that I was going to sit in.

"And what are you going to do?" Stefan asked me. "Sit there and handle money?"

I nodded my head. "And watch you," I teased him, winking.

Stefan just chuckled and gave me a chaste kiss before slowly walking away from me to go and wash cars. I bit my bottom lip with a smile and sat down in the chair, seeing a man walk up to the table.

"That'll be twenty dollars, sir," I said while opening the lock box to get ready to put the money in. When I looked up at him after he handed me the money, I froze in my seat. This was the man from the Grill yesterday who said he knew Stefan.

"Uh, excuse me, but I think I saw you last night," I said, catching the older man's attention. "You were talking to a friend of mine at the Grill."

"Well, I-I thought it was somebody I knew," the man said, nodding his head.

I tilted my head to the side and leaned on my hands. "Stefan Salvatore."

"Nah, it can't be," the man said, shaking his head from left to right. "It's just my mind playing tricks on me."

"Where do you think you'd seen him before?" I asked the man, curious as to how this man knew Stefan.

"When I first moved here, I stayed at the Salvatore Boarding House," he explained, sending me a small smile. "Stefan was just passing through to visit his uncle. I mean, none of us knew he was even here until the attack."

"The attack?" I asked, confused.

The man nodded his head. "His uncle got killed." I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion and looked over at Stefan who was scrubbing a car. He was just with his uncle yesterday though. He told me so at the Grill.

Something wasn't right here.

"Mauled by and animal in the woods," the man added.

"His uncle, Zach?" I asked, trying to clear my confusion.

He man shook his head. "Mm-mmm. Joseph."

"I don't think I'm familiar with the story, sir," I told him honestly, hoping that he would tell me the entire story, seeing as though curiosity was getting the best of me.

"Oh, how could you?" the man asked. "I mean, this happened _years _ago."

"Grandpa, you gotta go," Tiki, one of the cheerleaders, said, coming up behind me. "Mom wants you home."

He nodded his head and started to walk away. Tiki looked down at me.

"He wasn't bugging you, was he?" she asked. "He's a little alzy-heimer."

"No, he was sweet," I told her, shaking my head. I got up out of my seat and watched her grandpa slowly walk away. "Could you watch the money for me?"

Tiki nodded her head and sat down in my chair, helping other people with their payments while I ran up to her grandpa and tapped him on the arm lightly.

"I'm sorry to bother you again sir, but are you sure that the man you saw was Stefan Salvatore?" I asked him, trying to get the story straight.

"Yes," the man answered firmly. "I remember his ring and his brother—"

"Damon?"

"Yeah. Stefan and Damon Salvatore."

"When was this?"

"It was early June, nineteen fifty-three," the man stated.

"Nineteen fifty-three?" I asked, not believing what I just heard.

"Yeah," the man said. "June, nineteen fifty-three."

I let the man go after thanking him for his time and looked around the car wash. Stefan was still washing cars and talking to other football players. I looked over at the news car to see Elena talking to her Aunt and Logan Fell, the news anchor. As much as I didn't like it, an idea came to my head and I walked over to them.

"Hey, Elena," I greeted as she saw me first.

"Hey, Riley. What's up?" she asked.

"Um, could you ask Logan if he could do a favor for me?"

"Yeah, sure, what is it?"

"Um, I have a film project way past due and I need to see the archives in the news station for the project," I said, lying through my teeth. "Could you ask him if he could take me back to the station with me and show me the archives?"

She nodded her head and turned around to ask Logan the question. I was glad that she didn't question the class that I claimed I was in.

"Riley?" I heard Logan call out my name, making me look up at him. I gave him a smile and nodded my head. "What is it that you need?"

"Do you have access to old news stories, say, fifties?" I asked, hoping that the answer would be a yes.

"Yeah, back at the station we switched everything to digital copies," Logan said.

"I have a report way past due and I was wondering if I could swing by and check it out."

"I'm heading there now," Logan told me. "Want to tag along and get it over with?"

"That would be amazing!" I cheered.

"Let's go," Logan said, walking to the truck.

I nodded and turned to Jenna and Elena. "If anyone asks, you two don't know where I went. I can't have Caroline knowing that I left, okay?"

They both nodded their heads and I thanked them before scurrying after Logan.

* * *

"What are you looking for?" Logan asked me as he opened a door that lead to a computer that was hooked up to several monitors.

"An incident from nineteen fifty-three," I told him. "I mean, that is if it even happened."

Logan's phone rang and he held a finger before accepting the call. I sat down in the chair and faced the computer.

"I gotta go," he said apologetically. "You believe there's actual news to cover in this town?"

I gave him a smile and he shook his head at his own joke, pushing his phone back into his suit's pocket.

"All right, use keywords to search the database. It's pretty easy to navigate," Logan instructed. "And Brady down in tech will help you out with anything you need."

"Okay," I breathed out with a smile on my face.

"All right?"

I nodded my head and watched him walk out of the room, closing the door behind him. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding in and turned back to the computer. I moved the mouse around on the screen and clicked on the link that led me to the database. I typed in "Boarding House 1953" but nothing came up under that result. I tired "Joseph Salvatore + animal attack" next and was surprised when a result popped up.

It was a video clip.

I clicked on it and watched as a video popped up and started to play. It was shot in black and white and the screen was really fuzzy and pixelated.

"_This is Franklin Fell reporting to you from the Salvatore Boarding House, where a brutal animal attack has ended in tragedy. Ok, they're bringing out the body. See if you can get closer."_

The camera zoomed in on the body that was covered on the gurney as two paramedics brought it to the back of their vehicle. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, wondering what else was in this clip.

The camera shot back up to Franklin and he started to talk again.

"_Is that the nephew?" _

The camera turned to the entrance of the Boarding House where there was a figure standing in the doorway, looking out at the paramedics. I clicked the zoom button and focused the video on the outline of the figure. I narrowed my eyes at the screen trying to make out a face but then shot back in my seat when it cleared up.

There staring into the camera, was Stefan. He looked exactly like he did now except his hair was slicked back and he was wearing a nice collared shirt.

I exited from the video and jumped out of the chair. My mind was clouded with thoughts and I wanted to go home and try to piece together everything I had just found out.

* * *

I sat in my car right in front of Stefan's house. Thoughts were flooding my head and I couldn't think straight. I was too scared. Everything that I had seen wasn't adding up right. I didn't even believe the thought that has been on my mind since I saw the video clip from nineteen fifty-three.

I wasn't a believer. No sane person was. People are born, grow old, and die. That was the natural process of life. Nothing could alter or change that. There was no such thing as magic or mysticism. And there sure as hell wasn't a thing as immortality. That was just a story that people wanted to believe in. But it was an impossible fairy tale.

It was simply impossible.

I'm not a believer. I couldn't be. I was normal and knew fact from fiction. But how could I deny what was staring me straight in the face? Someone who never grows old, never gets hurt, and changes in ways that can't be explained surely wasn't normal.

My mind flashed to the video clip and I heard the man from the carwash repeat the year the animal attack regarding Joseph Salvatore. Next, it returned to the homecoming game when I could have sworn Stefan's hand got torn open by the glass bottle that Jeremy swung. Lastly, my mind shifted to last night when Stefan's eyes went dark and veins appeared under his eyes just like the night at the bonfire when Stefan and I first met.

I could feel my breathing become shallow and my heart beat start to get faster and faster. My grip on the steering wheel tightened and I tried to control my breathing.

Girls had been bitten and bodies had been drained of their blood.

I shook the absurd thoughts from my head and let go of the steering wheel, opening my car door. I jumped out of the vehicle and shut my door, walking up to the front door, trying to shake the incessant nagging in my brain that was telling me to turn away and never go near Stefan again. I had to know what was going on.

When I arrived at the doorstep, I turned around and ran a hand through my hair, thinking about what I was going to say. There wasn't really a good way to bring up the topic.

Hearing the door open up, I turned around quickly to see Stefan standing in his doorway with a shocked expression on his face.

Before I could stop myself, I blurted out my thoughts.

"What are you?"

* * *

**Okay, so you may have noticed how Tyler has been missing for the last couple of chapters, but that is going to change _very _soon. (:**

**I'm not really sure if I'm liking this whole chapter or story for that matter. I may not be updating this story much in the near future... It all depends. **

**-NS1918 xoxo **


	6. Lost Girls

**Okay, so here is the next chapter. I am not really thrilled with it and I am really hoping that after episode nine that I will really dive into the plot line. The plot, however, is going to start to develop in these next couple of chapters so I can't wait for you to see that . **

**Please refer to the disclaimer in the first chapter. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Lost Girls**

Frozen.

Everything was frozen.

Stefan and I were frozen looking between each other. My heartbeat was frozen in my chest. My limbs were frozen and I couldn't move them.

Time was frozen.

"What are you?"

The words slipped out of my mouth once more, breaking the silence between us. My heart started to pound against my chest all of a sudden and I felt as if my throat was closing up and I couldn't get enough air.

Stefan's eyes never left mine as he took a deep breath and nodded his head slowly. "You know."

"No, I don't know, Stefan," I countered, not knowing what to believe.

"Yes, you do, Riley," Stefan said in a calm voice, seeming as though he was trying to comfort me and make the situation better than it was. "You wouldn't be here if you didn't have at least a _hunch _as to what I am."

"No," I said shaking my head. I didn't want to believe all that was happening. I was beginning to regret my decision to come here. I should have just stayed home and I shouldn't have gone to the news station with Logan. "It's impossible. People grow old and die. There is no in-between or immortality."

Stefan reached over to the table next to his front door and set down the wooden stake that I didn't know he had in his hand. My mind raced with thoughts of vampires seeing that but I pushed the thoughts to the back of my head and ignored the gnawing feeling that was originating in my stomach.

"Everything you know," Stefan started, walking towards me slowly which caused me to back away from him in fear. "And every belief that you have is about to change. Are you ready for that?"

Every nerve in my body was telling me that I needed to walk away and ignore this and forget about it in the morning so I could go on with my life and have no problems. But I couldn't. I knew that even if I walked away, things would be different. I would question everything and I would never know what was _really_ going on with Stefan.

I remained still and watched as Stefan took a deep breath and looked at me with sad eyes before he opened his mouth and said the words I could never un-hear.

"I'm a vampire."

I felt tears build up behind my eyes and I shook my head.

This was impossible. There was no such thing as a vampire. This wasn't some sci-fi/fantasy television show. It was just impossible.

The boy in front of me – the boy I had kissed, hugged, shared my feelings to, and grow to care for – couldn't be a monster. He was anything but a monster. He was so kind, caring, and selfless.

But I guess you don't know what happens behind closed doors.

"I shouldn't have come," I choked out, backing away from him further. "I should have stayed home. I shouldn't have said anything."

Stefan shook his head and reached his hand towards me, trying to take my hand but I pulled back and shook my head as my palms started to sweat and fear started to slowly spread through my body.

"No. Please," Stefan started.

"No. No," I said turning on my heel and running to my car with my head looking down at the ground the entire time. I didn't look up until I was at my car door and Stefan was standing in front of the door. I let out a scream and stumbled back. "How did you do that?"

"Riley," Stefan said with a hurt expression on his face. "_Please,_ don't be afraid of me." He reached a hand out once more to touch my shoulder and all that I could come up with in response was a whimper. He ignored my whimpers of fear and grabbed my shoulder gently, trying to look into my eyes as I cast my head down so I wouldn't have to look at him. "There's things that you have to know and understand before I let you go."

I shook my head and wanted nothing more than to get this monster away from me and never see him again. I couldn't believe that he was a demon. I just wanted to put distance between us. The tears that I was pushing back rushed down my cheeks and I pushed Stefan's arms off of me as I ducked around him and got into my car, starting it before I peeled out of the driveway and sped home.

Once I did get home, I got out of my car and rushed up the porch and walked through the front door, seeing my mom passed out on the couch with a cup of coffee on the table next to the couch and _Twilight_ blaring on the TV. I dashed up the steps and walked into my room, closing the door behind me.

I walked over to my bed and sat down on it, running my hand through my hair.

Vampires were real. They existed and Stefan was one of them.

Did he ever really like me or was he just waiting to kill me and drink my blood? How could I have been so _stupid _as to get mixed up with vampires? I should have stayed away from Stefan and just moved on from Tyler instead of going for Stefan. I should have listened to Bonnie when she said that Stefan gave off a feeling of death.

"Riley."

I gasped at the sound of my voice being called out behind me and turned around quickly to see Stefan standing in my bedroom with my window open behind him. I let out a small scream and jumped up from my bed and ran over to my door trying to open it, but was stopped when Stefan put his hand on the door and closed it. I pushed my body close to the doorway, wanting to stay as far away from him and shut my eyes, waiting for him to rip me away from the door.

"I would never hurt you," Stefan whispered from behind me. I cringed at the sound of his voice and shook my head. It was all a lie. Vampires are monsters and kill people to survive. I would never be safe with Stefan. "You're safe with me. I'm never going to hurt you. I just want to protect you."

"Protect me?" I cried out in a whisper. "From what? You're a monster, Stefan. All those animal attacks and people who have died…"

"No," Stefan said with urgency in his voice. "That wasn't me. That was all Damon's doing."

"Damon?" I repeated, turning around slowly to face Stefan who was leaning towards me slightly.

"Yes. I don't drink human blood," Stefan told me, willing me to believe. "That's not how I choose to survive. But Damon does. I'll explain everything to you, but I beg you; do _not _tell _anybody._"

"Why, Stefan? How can you expect me to keep this to myself?" I asked, thinking about Scarlett and how Damon was tormenting her by biting her and scaring her. I had to tell her what was really going on so I could keep her away from him and keep her safe as well.

"Because you knowing this is dangerous for _so _many reasons," Stefan pressed, searching my eyes. "You can hate me, but I need you to trust me."

I shook my head.

"I can't trust you, Stefan," I said, shaking a little bit from the sobs that I was desperately holding back. "I just can't. Not right now. That's too much to ask of me."

"Just _please_," Stefan pleaded. "Please don't tell anyone."

"Go," I choked out. "Just go."

Stefan looked down at me with glassy green eyes and shook his head. "I never wanted you to find out. Not like this." He dropped his arm from the door behind my head and leaned back so he was standing up straight. Looking between my eyes one more time, Stefan turned around and in one second, his body was gone and it was like he was never here.

I ran over to my window and pulled it down, locking it so he couldn't come back inside for the rest of the night.

* * *

"Riley," the familiar voice of my mother cooed, making me stir from my sleep. "Riley, wake up." I moaned into my pillow and rolled over, wanting to go back to sleep and hide from the world. "Riley, get up. Stefan is here to see you."

Hearing his name, I felt my body tense up.

"Oh, don't be like that," my mother dismissed as she nudged my shoulder, oblivious to the fact that there was a blood sucking demon downstairs. "He told me that the two of you are going through a rough time and that he wanted to explain everything to you."

I pulled my head out of the pillow and jumped out of my bed. I dashed out of my room in my half-awake state of mind and ran down the stairs only to see Stefan standing in the foyer with his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket.

"Stefan, you need to leave," I hissed. I didn't trust him anymore and I didn't want him to hurt my mother.

"Riley," Stefan started. "Just give me today so I can have a chance to explain everything. All I'm asking for is one day."

I shook my head and looked up the stairs to see my mom walk into her room and shut the door behind her. Looking back down at Stefan, I felt my palms begin to sweat in fear.

"Just give me today. I will answer any questions that you have, and when the day is over, you can decide for yourself what you want to do with what you've learned," Stefan said, walking towards me a little bit but stopped when he saw me tense up. "It'll be your choice."

Seeing as though he wasn't going to give up until I said yes, I nodded my head and let out a breath that I didn't know I was holding in. Hopefully after all of this was said and done he would leave me alone and I could get on with my life. But I knew that part was easier said than done.

"Fine, you get one day," I told him. "But you have to respect my wishes when the day is over."

Stefan nodded his head and I could see that he was holding back a smile.

"I'm going to go get dressed and then we can go to the Grill," I said, turning around, walking back up the stairs to get dressed.

* * *

"When you Google "vampire" you get a world of fiction," I said in a quiet voice, not wanting other people to hear what we were talking about. "What's it really like?"

"I'll tell you anything you want to know," Stefan said, sitting across from me at the table outside of the Grill.

"Garlic isn't a problem?"

"No. I actually love garlic on top of my pasta," he answered.

"What about sunlight? That doesn't seem like it fazes you at all."

"Some vampires have rings that protect us from the sunlight."

"Crosses?"

"Decorative."

"Holy water?"

"Drinkable."

"Running water?"

"A horrible joke."

"Mirrors?"

"Myth."

"You said you don't drink animal blood to survive. What do you drink? Some sort of magical supplement?"

"I feed off of animal blood. It keeps me alive," Stefan said. "It doesn't keep me as strong as Damon. He can be very powerful."

"Powerful? As in what? Reading minds? Floating in midair? Teleporting?"

"No, he isn't like Edward Cullen with the reading minds thing," he stated. "We don't have any special abilities other than mind compulsion."

"What can repel vampires?" I asked him, wanting to know how I can protect myself from these monsters in our town.

"Stakes to the heart will kill us," he started. "Also sunlight if we don't have a method of protection. Fire. We have to be invited into a house or else we can't enter. Also an herb called vervain can weaken us. That bracelet I gave you, it has vervain in it. It protects your mind from being compelled by a vampire. If you decide at the end of the day that you never want to see me again, just please _always _keep that on."

"How do I know you didn't compel me before you gave me this bracelet?" I asked him, touching the bracelet on my wrist absentmindedly.

"I didn't want to compel you," Stefan said. "I never did. I wanted everything between us to be as normal as possible."

"As normal as it gets when a vampire is playing pretend in a high school, dating a human," I scoffed under my breath, not aware that he could hear me. My mind drifted to everyone, mentally laughing at how Stefan had us all fooled into thinking that he was a normal boy. Scarlett popped into my head and Damon came up right after. Scarlett had to have known that Damon was a vampire but if Stefan was so against Damon and his tricks, then why did he allow him to go near her?

"Why did you let Damon get involved with Scarlett if you knew what he was capable of?"

"Telling Damon no, only makes him want something more," Stefan explained.

"But he was hurting her, Stefan. There were bite marks _all _over her body and bruises scattered here and there on her flesh."

"He was feeding on her," he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world that I couldn't grasp. "He was able to take away her memories of being bitten using the compulsion. She could never remember what was happening to her. If he wanted to kill her, she would have been long dead by now."

"That doesn't make it okay, Stefan," I argued.

"I know that none of this is okay, Riley. I do."

I sat back in my chair a bit and moved on to another topic. I didn't want to think about what went on with Scarlett and Damon when they were together.

"Are there any other vampires in town besides you and Damon?"

"No. Not in Mystic Falls, not anymore," Stefan told me.

"Anymore?"

"There was a time when this town was very much aware of vampires. It didn't end well for anybody. That's why it's important that you don't tell anyone, Riley."

"I can't promise you that right now, Stefan," I stated. It was too early to tell what I was going to choose but right now I was leaning towards running away from him screaming vampire to the Council so they could take care of the problem.

It's not that I wanted to rat Stefan out, I just wanted to protect my family and friends. I will always chose my friends and family over a guy that I barely knew anything about.

"I want to show you something," Stefan said, grabbing my attention once more.

"What is it?" I asked him.

"I think I should just take you there instead."

"Wait, where is this place?" I asked, watching him as he got up from his chair and grabbed his car keys out of his pocket.

"It's in the woods near the edge of town."

I tensed in my chair and instantly wished that I had stayed home today instead of gone with him to learn more about the monsters that were in Mystic Falls.

"Don't worry," Stefan said, sensing my fear. "I promise I won't hurt you. I could never hurt you, Riley."

I nodded my head but I knew deep down that I didn't trust him anymore. I mean, how could I? He was a monster. I couldn't look at him the same way anymore in light of what I had just found out. I just couldn't as much as I really wanted to.

But a small part of me still cared for this monster.

* * *

Stefan stopped the car as we pulled up to a small clearing in the forest that started at the end of the little path that had been cut into the woods. Stefan got out of the car and I followed him, staying a good distance away from him.

"What are we doing in the middle of nowhere?" I asked him.

"This didn't used to be nowhere," Stefan said, walking forwards so he was standing in the middle of the clearing between two brick pedestals. "This used to be my home."

"You used to live in the woods?"

He let out a chuckle and shook his head looking at the base of what seemed to be a water fountain from way back when.

"It looks so old," I commented on the stone fountain as I neared where he was standing.

"It's because they are."

I looked over at him with a furrowed eyebrow.

"Wait, how long have you been a vampire?"

"I've been seventeen years old since eighteen sixty-four," Stefan said with a sigh at the end. I widened my eyes in shock, not realizing that he was _that _old. "I'm not going to hold anything back from you." I nodded my head in understanding. "Half a century before the Boarding House was even built, this was my family's home." Stefan turned around and looked around the clearing once more. "Damon and I were born here. The Salvatore Brothers, best of friends."

"What changed that?" I asked him, letting my curiosity take over my mouth.

"Katherine," Stefan said. "And Alice, too, I guess."

"Wait you know Katherine and Alice back in eighteen sixty-four?"

Stefan nodded his head.

"But Damon made it seem like it was just last month," I said.

"Damon was trying to make you think that I was still heartbroken," Stefan explained, stepping in front of me. I was still a little bit on edge with him but I was trying to ignore the nagging feeling in my stomach to run. After today, I could chose to never see him again and he would have to listen to me. "He saw that I was happy with you, and he wanted to ruin it."

"All because you loved the same woman one hundred and forty-five years ago?"

"She wasn't just any girl," Stefan started. "She was beautiful, yet two faced. It drove me and my brother crazy for her. There was just something about her." Stefan paused and looked down at me before taking a deep breath. "I said I wasn't going to hold anything back so I'm going to tell you a something about Katherine that is going to come as a shock to you."

"What is it?" I asked Stefan, curious as to what was so bad about Katherine.

"She was special. She was what people would call a doppelgänger."

"A doppelgänger?" I asked.

"A doppelgänger is someone who has a very special bloodline and is in a way reincarnated every so often."

"Okay," I trailed off not knowing why that was supposed to shock me. "I don't see what is supposed to make me do a double take."

"Riley, Elena is a doppelgänger too."

"What do you mean Elena's doppelgänger?"

"Elena is Katherine's doppelgänger which means Elena looks _exactly _like Katherine."

I froze and felt something like a pang in my heart.

"If you loved Katherine and Elena looks like Katherine, why don't you feel anything for Elena?" I asked, feeling what I assumed was jealousy creep in slowly. I pushed the feeling away, not wanting the unwelcome emotion.

"Katherine played me and Damon like a violin and she didn't even blink an eye," Stefan started, taking a seat on one of the stone benches that was still intact amongst the ruins of the old house. "She would feed from us, compel us to forget, and repeat the process over and over. She wanted the three of us to be together forever. After I became a vampire, the compulsion started to wear off and I started to remember bits and pieces of what she had done until I had finally gotten the whole picture back. After I realized what she had done to me, I swore to myself that I would never associate myself with anything that was like Katherine ever again. So naturally, Elena fell into that category."

I nodded my head and opened my mouth to speak but was silenced by the ringtone of Stefan's phone. He pulled the device out of his pocket and looked down at the screen before answering the call.

"Damon," Stefan said grimly. "What do you need?" Stefan was silent for a while and I stood in front of him, waiting for him to finish with Damon. "I'll take care of it.

Hanging up, Stefan stood up and started to walk towards the car and I followed him.

"I have to go take care of something but I'm going to go and drop you off at your house, okay?" he asked turning to face me. I nodded my head and got into the passenger seat of Stefan's car and buckled up while he got in and did the same, happy to be heading home.

* * *

My mom had let to go to a dinner with one of her friend's and I was home alone by myself now. Stefan had dropped me off at my house about three hours ago and I was glad that I didn't have to be around him right now. I was still terrified of him and I just wanted to keep my distance.

I didn't know how much longer I could stay like this, living in fear of Stefan and trying to keep my distance from him.

The doorbell rang, pulling me out of my thoughts and I slowly got up from y spot on the couch and walked over to the door, opening it to welcome the person on my doorstep. I froze in my motions when I saw Damon Salvatore standing in the doorway and tried to slam the door on him but he stuck his hand out and pushed it open with ease while I fought to push it back.

"You're afraid of me," Damon observed with a cocky smirk on his face.

I could feel my heart beat speed up and pound against my chest cavity. My palms started to sweat and I didn't know what to do. I had invited him inside of my house and I couldn't uninvited him. I didn't have any stakes lying around the house and I didn't have vervain to weaken him with. I was utterly defenseless.

"I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess," Damon continued, strolling into my house. "Stefan finally fessed up."

"Go away, Damon," I whispered out, not trusting my voice to be any louder.

"You know," he stalled looking around the living room before he took a seat on one of the arm chairs. "I don't really like the rudeness that you seem to radiate. I would much appreciate it if you would be nicer considering I could snap your neck in an instant."

"Are you going to kill me?" I squeaked out, the fear taking over my entire body.

"Not yet," Damon said. "It wouldn't serve my greater agenda."

I stood frozen in the foyer by the front door. I didn't know what to do or how to get him out of the house.

"Where's Stefan?" Damon asked after a moment of silence.

"I don't know," I answered. "He dropped me off here a couple of hours ago."

"Well, that's not helpful," Damon quipped. "I need to find my ring and fast. If he doesn't give me my ring who knows what I'll do in retaliation."

"Your ring?" I asked.

"Yes, Stefan took it and now I want it back."

"What do you mean retaliation?" I asked.

"Do I really have to spell it out for you, Riley?" Damon asked. "I thought you were smart enough to know what I meant."

"If you're referring to Scarlett, you need to stop. I'm not going to allow you to touch her."

"Who said I was going to retaliate with Scarlett?" Damon pressed, getting up from the couch, walking over to me. "I think that in order to sway Stefan to see things my way, I have to hurt someone close to him."

I felt my heart skip a few beats and my breath get caught in my throat. I knew that he was talking about me. In this instant, I honestly feared for my life.

"Why can't you just ask nicely?" I offered, trying to get him to not resort to violence.

"Nice isn't really my thing in case you haven't noticed. I favor force," he said.

"Damon."

The older Salvatore and I turned our heads to see Stefan standing in the door way. His hair was a little disheveled and his shirt was stained with blood. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion and was about to walk towards him to see why he was bleeding but was stopped when Damon suddenly moved behind me and held my throat in a tight grip with his hand.

I could feel my eyes widen and my hands flew up to his hands, trying to claw them away so I could breathe once more. Stefan rushed into the house but stopped when Damon tightened his grip and held me closer to his body.

"Where's my ring, Stefan?" Damon growled, his mouth right next to my face.

"I don't know," Stefan said, trying to see what was the best way to get me away from Damon.

"Well you better find out or I will snap her neck without hesitation."

I let out a squeal and tried to pull his hand away after the words left his mouth. I didn't want to die like this. I wanted to die of old age.

"Alright," Stefan said quickly after Damon. "I can get it, just let her go."

"I don't think so, brother," Damon hissed as he started to close his grip further on my throat. "I want my ring in five minutes or else her head _will _roll."

At this point, tears were forming in my eyes and I couldn't see straight anymore. Everything was blurry and I was sure that my life was going to end.

"Just don't hurt her," Stefan said urgently before his disappeared, leaving me alone with Damon.

I let the tears fall from my eyes, seeing as Stefan just left me here with his homicidal brother to die. I wasn't ready to die. I wanted to live and get married and have kids. I didn't want it to end like this.

My vision was blurring further and I couldn't get enough oxygen into my lungs with Damon's death grip. I could feel my body getting weaker and weaker. My head felt heavy and my limbs dropped to my side as I leaned into Damon's body slightly so I could somewhat support my weight.

Damon brought his other hand up to my hair and brushed a strand to the side while he kept his grip tight on my throat. "It's a pity you have to go like this. I had a lot more in store for you."

His grip tightened immensely and I could feel my lungs expanding trying to get air with no success. I closed my eyes and said a quick prayer before I could die.

"Wait!" Stefan yelled out.

My eyes snapped open and I could barely make out his shape. Damon's grip loosened a little bit and I took a short gasp, breathing in some oxygen.

"Here, take the ring and let her go."

Damon's hand fell from around my neck and due to the weakness, I couldn't hold my weight up. I crumbled to the floor and took several deep breaths as Stefan rushed over to me and helped me to sit up straight as Damon waltzed up to the front door.

He turned around and looked down at me.

"A tip for later," he started. "Be careful who you invite in the house."

With that, Damon exited my house and skipped down the porch steps, disappearing into the night.

"I'm so sorry that this happened, Riley," Stefan apologized as he held me close to his chest. "I'm so sorry."

"I gave you today just like you asked," I sobbed out, feeling sore around my throat. I pushed myself away from his chest and slowly stood up, bracing myself on the small table behind me. "I understand that you would never hurt me after what just happened, but I can't live like this anymore. I can't be with you Stefan because I keep getting hurt. I will keep your secret, but I can't be with you, Stefan."

Stefan stood up from the floor and looked me in the eyes with a hurt all over his face. My heart broke for him but I knew that this was what was best for the both of us. I wouldn't have to fear for my life when I was around him and he wouldn't have to watch out for me constantly. Plus, I was saving myself from the inevitable heartbreak that was bound to come out of all of this.

"I just can't do this, Stefan."

He looked down at the ground and grimly nodded his head.

"I'm so sorry," I apologized. "I just don't want to be scared anymore."

Stefan didn't want to hear me apologize anymore so he just looked up at me and nodded his head once more before turning on his heel and walking out of my house, closing the front door behind him.

The tears couldn't stop beading around my eye lids now and just poured down my cheeks. My throat, head, chest, and heart hurt too much and I couldn't hold myself up anymore. I slid down to the floor and held my knees to my chest as I sobbed into them. I just wanted someone to hold me and tell me that everything was going to be okay.

I reached into my pocket and pulled my phone out, pulling up the contact that was on my mind and called it without thinking my decision through.

_"Hello?"_

"Tyler?" I asked into the phone.

_"Riley?" _he asked, sounding worried. _"What's wrong? Why are you crying?"_

"Can you please come over?"

_"Of course," _he breathed out. _"I'm on my way. Is everything okay?"_

"I just need someone right now."

_"I'll be right there,"_ Tyler told me before the line went dead.

I set my phone down on the floor and took a deep breath trying to calm myself down and not a moment later, I heard the front door open and looked up to see Tyler slipping the spare key to my house behind the planter on the front porch.

When he looked down, his eyes met mine and a look of sorrow washed over his face as he rushed over to me.

"What happened?" Tyler asked as he pulled my body into his chest.

I rested my head on his shoulder and took a deep breath, inhaling his natural scent. I missed times like this when we could just be with each other and comfort one another. Sure he was a player, but he was really sweet when he needed to be.

"I don't want to talk about it right now," I said shakily while shaking my head. "Can you just take me up to my room?"

Tyler wrapped an arm around my torso and his other one slid under my knees and he stood up with me in his arms, holding me close to his chest as he made his way up my stairs and into my bedroom. He set me down on the bed and pulled the covers over me.

"Will you stay with me?" I asked, scared to be alone at the moment right now.

Tyler looked down at me for a moment before nodding his head. I scooted over in my bed and lifted the covers up for him as he kicked his boots off and climbed in bed next to me. His arms snaked around my waist and he pulled me closer to him gently and just held me.

"I've missed this," he muttered under his breath. "I miss us."

I just remained quietly, wanting to agree with him but I didn't want to get into anything right now. I just needed someone to stay here and be with me with no strings attached. I did miss times like this and I wished that it didn't have to end. I wished that he didn't cheat on me with Vicki so that I wouldn't have gotten involved with Stefan and find myself in a situation that no one should ever find themselves in.

But at the same time, I wouldn't want to change my time with Stefan. I felt genuinely happy with him and I felt whole. With Tyler, I felt mostly complete but there would always be that hole in my chest.

I shook the thoughts from my head and just closed my eyes, drifting off to sleep in Tyler's arms, feeling safer than I would if I was alone.

* * *

**So there is that chapter. I would just like to thank you for the reviews/favorites/follows on the last chapter. It really surprised me since I wasn't really sure of the story. **

**Thanks for everything once more and don't forget to tell me what you are thinking about this story. **

**-NS1918 xoxo**


	7. Haunted

**I need to set some things straight. **

**First of all: this is ****_MY _****story so I can make Damon a little OOC to fit my needs, okay? I'm not trying to be mean or anything but I know what I am doing with my plot line. I needed him to be a little vicious. You'll see why all in good time. I promise. **

**Second of all: Yes, I know Riley didn't handle the situation well, but that is changing. **

**Third: If you want to flame this story, go right on ahead and do so. I already know this story is crap and I don't really know why I continue to write it but I do and right when I feel good about what I'm doing, I get flames and more flames. I really wish you could at least word them respectfully. **

**Here is 1x07. I hope you enjoy and if you don't... well, I'm sorry to disappoint you.**

**Please refer to the disclaimer in the first chapter.**

* * *

**Haunted**

"Vicki's missing?" I asked Matt as the two of us walked into school the next morning. The younger Donovan had picked me up from my house this morning to take me to school. Tyler had disappeared sometime in the night because when I woke up at three, he wasn't next to me or in the bathroom. I had realized that I was stupid to call Tyler because even when we were together, he would bail when I needed him. I had a moment of weakness last night and I wasn't going to let it happen again. I had to be strong on my own. I was strong for my mother and myself when my father cheated and left us. I was strong for us again when my mom lost her job and she went on a hunt for another one. I was a strong person who had handled a situation the worst way one could. I couldn't give in like that again and run back to the man who had hurt me before.

"Yeah," Matt started as we walked to his locker. "She just bailed at Elena's yesterday right after Stefan came over."

I tensed hearing Stefan's name. Putting two and two together, I realized that Stefan dropped me off and went over to Elena's house. I held back the scoff that was itching at the back of my throat. So much for not wanting anything to do with Katherine and/or Elena. But then that thought faded when the word "vampire" popped up in my mind. I flinched a little to myself and tried to push my thoughts to the back of my head. I didn't want to think about the demons running around this town right now.

Just as I opened my mouth to speak, Matt's phone rang and he reached into his vest pocket and pulled it out; eagerly putting the phone to his ear once he read the Caller-ID.

"Vicki?" he asked into the phone, sounding relieved but a little worried. I furrowed my eyebrows together and watched Matt carefully as he talked to his sister. "Where are you? Are you okay?" There was silence for a moment. "Tell me where you are, and I'll come get you." Matt looked around the hallway as he listened to his sister's response before pulling the phone away from his ear with a confused expression on his face.

"What did she say?" I asked, wondering about the older Donovan.

"She said that she's okay and she needs to sort things out," Matt huffed in annoyance. "What does that even mean, Riley?"

I shook my head and shrugged my shoulders. "Just give her time, Matt," I told him. "She'll come around soon enough. Don't worry over it. She's a big girl; she can handle herself."

Matt nodded his head and cast his baby blue eyes down to the ground and I felt bad for my friend. He didn't deserve all of this hanging over his head with all the other shit that already looms over him.

"Hey, Matt!" the familiar voice of Tyler bellowed through the hallway. I cringed a little bit and Matt shot me a quick half smile before turning to the dark haired boy who was coming towards us.

"Hey, man," Matt greeted him.

Tyler looked over at me and for a moment, I thought he was going to apologize for what he did, but he just moved his gaze back to Matt.

"I heard they're putting together a search party for Vicki," he said as if trying to offer some good news to his buddy.

"She just called. She's okay," Matt announced. He sounded slightly agitated with Tyler and I understood why. I mean, Tyler was screwing around with his sister for a while.

"Oh, good," Tyler responded after he flickered his gaze over to me and then back to Matt.

I rolled my eyes at his childish antics and leaned against the wall that we were all standing by.

"That's great," Tyler added. "I figured you must have been going out of your mind."

"Little bit, yeah," Matt lashed.

"I was just going to offer, you know, if there's anything I could do."

"I appreciate it," Matt said before turning on his heel and walking away. I sighed, seeing as though I was now alone with Tyler.

"Riley," he started, but I shook my head and cut him off.

"No, Tyler. I was wrong to call you last night. It shouldn't have happened. I'm sorry."

Tyler opened his mouth to speak but I didn't want to hear it. I just pushed myself off of the wall and walked around him, leaving him to himself while I went to go find some of my friends and distract my mind from the many things that were just dying to be focused on.

Seeing Bonnie and Scarlett, I rushed over to them, hoping they would be able to take my mind off of the topics I didn't want to divulge in to.

"Hey, guys," I greeted with a sigh as I stood in front of them.

"Hey!" Scarlett greeted with a smile on her face while Bonnie just smiled and waved.

"We need to get our plans down for tonight," Bonnie said. "I imagine you are going with Stefan?" the dark haired girl looked over at me with a small smile on her face.

"Actually, Stefan and I broke up last night," I told them with a small grimace on my face. I didn't like how the topic made its way to the topic of Stefan. A feeling in my gut stirred but I couldn't tell if it was terror or my feelings for him in my stomach at the moment. As much as I hated to admit it, I think I will always feel something for Stefan even though he's a monster.

"What?" Scarlett practically shouted with wide eyes. "What the hell, Riley? Why didn't you tell us?"

"It was late and I was a mess," I told them half of the truth. "I just didn't want you guys to see me like that." The two girls in front of me just stared at me with looks mixed with anger and sympathy. I shook my head. "I really don't want to talk about it." Scarlett and Bonnie continued to stare at me with those looks. I put on a fake smile and turned to Scarlett. "What are you dressing up as?"

"Bonnie, Caroline, and I are all going to be sexy witches," Scarlett said with a wink, switching topics for my sake. "What about you?"

"I was thinking of asking Matt if he wanted to go so I could reuse my old nurse costume from last year and he could use his doctor costume," I told them. "Plus, I want to be there for him while his sister is MIA. He was pretty beat up about it earlier."

"Only you would help someone through their problems before helping yourself with your _own _problems," Scarlett said, sending me a sad smile.

"I just want to be there, you know? I mean, I feel like I have been blowing Matt off when I was with Stefan," I said. "And you guys, too."

"Riley, you are forgetting that you stayed with me for a week _just_ to make sure that I was okay when things got rough with Damon," Scarlett said, reaching out to take my hand and give it a squeeze.

"We're fine, Riley," Bonnie added. "It's just that we don't want to see you try and fix someone else's problems before your own and end up never cleaning up your mess."

"I'm fine guys," I pushed. "I'm not going to spontaneously combust with emotions like you seem to think I am. I can handle myself."

The two just looked at me as if I was a broken puppy and it annoyed me a little bit.

"Listen, I have to go," I said to them. "I'll see you two later."

I didn't even wait for a response from them. I turned around and headed down one of the long hallways, making my way to my class in advance so I didn't have to spend any more time being treated like a love sick girl who got dumped.

* * *

_"Vicki just got home and I don't know if I should push her to go out again, Riley,"_ Matt said over the phone.

I let out a sigh and sunk down into my couch as I held the phone to my ear.

"Well, it's not pushing if she wants to go, right?" I asked, trying to get Matt to agree to go to the stupid Halloween party at the school. I didn't want to be alone and I didn't want to go with Bonnie, Scarlett, and Caroline and hear about how I need to "clean up my own mess."

_"Riley, I don't know,"_ he said.

"Come on, Matt," I whined. "It's Halloween. I want to go out and have a fun time with you and Vicki can come if she wants or you can leave her home and join me at the school. I don't want to go alone."

_"Then go with Stefan."_

"Just ask her Matt," I said, moving around his suggestion. "I expect to see you at the school in costume at eight."

With that being said, I hung up the phone and ran a hand through my hair. I didn't want to talk or even think about what happened with Stefan. I was still scared of him and Damon. I knew that Damon was fully capable of killing but I didn't know what Stefan was capable of. I knew that he told me that he would never hurt me but that was when we were together and now I don't know if he would go back on his word to keep me safe. A voice in the back of my head told me that he would never hurt me and I clung to that thought, hoping that it was true.

Looking over at the clock, I saw that it was quarter to seven so I got up from the couch and walked up the stairs and into my room to get my costume. I reached to the back of my closet and brought out the short nurse's dress and fake hand that was supposed to go with the outfit.

"Here we go," I muttered to myself as I stripped my clothes and shimmied into the short dress. Feeling the material cling to my skin, I quickly remembered why I put it in the back of my closet. It was way too revealing but I didn't have anything else to wear and I wasn't going to go out and buy a costume an hour before the party.

I grabbed the fake stethoscope from one of the pockets and hung it around my neck while I stuck the fake plastic hand in the pocket. I reached for my lipstick tube and started to apply the color when I saw something like a shadow flash across the mirror behind me. I spun around quickly to see what it was but didn't see anything there. I walked over to my window and saw that it was slightly ajar. With a frown on my face, I closed the window and turned the latch so it was locked.

I turned back around and grabbed my phone on the dresser before heading out. As I made my way down the stairs, I got the feeling that I was being watched but shook it off as I walked out of my house and got in my car, moving towards the school.

* * *

After standing around for a while looking like a loner, I felt a tap on my shoulder and I turned around to see Matt standing behind me with a smile on his face. I smiled back and lightly punched his shoulder.

"You made it," I praised. "I was beginning to think that I was going to look like a fool the rest of the night."

"I brought Vic but she disappeared," Matt said, looking around.

"You're being a good brother, Matt. I don't think smothering her right now it going to be the best option."

"I just wish she would tell me what the hell she did so I can at least try to help her, you know?" he said with a sigh attached to the end.

"Let her open up to you when she wants to," I told him. "Trust me. It's a female thing. We don't like pushy men."

Matt just rolled his eyes and gave a slight chuckle.

"Come on," I said after a moment. "Let's go get a drink and get this party started!"

Matt let out another laugh and followed me through the crowd of people as we walked towards the back of the school where teenagers were handing out alcohol. I grabbed a cup for Matt and myself and took a sip, letting the alcohol slide down my throat with a nice burn.

"So, I've been meaning to ask, but why are you here with me and not Stefan?" Matt asked.

I hesitated and downed the rest of the contents in my cup before looking back at Matt.

"We sort of broke up," I said.

Matt frowned and looked down at me with sorrow in his eyes.

"Don't look at me like that," I warned him. "I don't want your pity. I came to this party to move on and I don't want to spend my night wallowing over him."

"Okay, but at least let me say this," Matt stared. "It's okay to feel bad over a break up and I know that you really like this guy, too. So if you ever need anyone to talk to, I'm here."

I gave him a smile. "Same old Matt," I teased. "The big softie."

"Hey," he defended. "I'm not a softie."

"Sure, whatever you say," I shot at him with a wink at the end.

Matt rolled his eyes again and was about to say something when something behind me caught his attention. He stood up straight and walked around me. I turned around to see what he was staring at and saw Elena and Stefan holding Vicki in between the two of them.

A nagging in the pit of my stomach appeared and the blood in my veins ran cold. I knew that the cold blood was a result of fear of Stefan. I mean he was a vampire. If that didn't scare a person, they must be mentally disturbed. But I didn't know what this feeling in my stomach was but I knew that it was connected to seeing Stefan and Elena together. I shook the feeling away. I wasn't with Stefan anymore and he can do whatever he wants.

I followed Matt over to the two, wondering why they were holding Vicki like she was trying to escape.

"What's going on?" Matt asked in a harsh tone.

"Hey. Uh, everything's fine," Stefan said to Matt before his eyes flickered down to me. I looked away from him and mentally slapped myself for acting so skittish in front of him.

"I told you to quit bothering me," Vicki said to the two as she ripped her arms out of their grasps and came to stand by her brother.

"No," Elena sighed, shaking her head. "Vicki, don't do this."

"Matt, he won't leave me alone," Vicki explained, ignoring Elena's request.

"You need to back off, man," Matt demanded, moving closer to Stefan.

I stepped over to him and placed my arm on his shoulder trying to keep him somewhat level headed. The last thing Matt needs is to get into a fight that he is going to regret later on.

"Matt, it's - it's okay," Elena said, trying to calm him down as well.

"No, it's not okay!" he exclaimed before getting up in Stefan's face. "What the hell is your problem?"

"Matt," I begged, trying to get him to stop. "Calm down."

"Stefan," Elena gasped. "She's gone."

Running around Matt, Stefan, and I, Elena disappeared and Stefan started to follow after her until Matt put his hand on Stefan's shoulder stopping him. In an instant, Stefan had Matt pinned up against the wall, holding her by the collar of his shirt.

I let out a small yelp and threw my arms around Stefan's shoulders, trying to pull him off of Matt.

"I'm trying to help her," Stefan said before letting him go and turning towards me. I dropped my arms to my side and just stared up at him in shock. I didn't know what was going on but something was wrong with Vicki if Stefan was getting really involved in the matter.

Without a word, Stefan turned around and followed after Elena, leaving me to handle a flustered Matt Donovan.

"What's going on, Riley?" Matt asked.

"I don't have the slightest clue. Let's just try and find Vicki, okay?" Matt nodded his head. "You go down that hallway and look in the school. I'll go look outside."

"Alright, I'll meet you back at the car after I check the school," Matt said before disappearing.

I ran through the doors that Stefan and Elena ran through moments before but ended up running into the woodshop room. It was empty and bare and the room was silent. All I could hear was the beating of my heart in my ears and the soft thump of music from the hallway.

I looked around the room seeing nothing out of place and turned around, ready to walk out of the room when I heard a scream. My heart stopped and I turned around without thinking and bolted for the door in the back of the room that led out to the bus lot. Throwing the door open, I got there just in time to see a large broken piece of wood get shoved into Vicki's chest. She let go of Elena who now had blood all over her left arm and backed up a little, revealing Stefan who pulled the stake out of Vicki's chest.

I heard a scream tear through the silence and didn't realize that it was me until Stefan, Elena, and Jeremy's heads snapped up to look at me. I pushed past Elena and went over to Vicki. She looked at me with wide eyes and pain all over her face. Her face started to turn gray along with the rest of her skin and I gasped realizing what happened.

Vicki was a vampire and she had just been staked.

"Vicki!" Jeremy yelled out as I let out a strangled cry.

How did this happen? How could I not have seen what this really was? I felt tears rush down my cheeks and I didn't bother holding them back. I had just witnessed Vicki's death.

Vicki looked over at Jeremy and crumbled to the ground, not moving and that was when it was really over.

My legs felt like Jell-O and I couldn't hold myself up anymore. My knees gave way and I started falling down towards the gravel sobbing. Before my knees could feel the Earth shattering pain of hitting the pavement, I felt arms wrap around me and hold me up. I knew just by being in their arms that Stefan was holding me close to his body. I was okay with that for right now. As much as he still scared me, I still felt safe and comfortable in his arms.

Hard sobs racked my body and I couldn't see anything due to the tears, blurring my vision. I buried my head into Stefan's chest and let myself be weak for this moment. I just saw one of my best friends' sister die and I couldn't have done anything to stop it.

How was Matt going to take this? What were we going to tell him?

Taking a few deep breaths to try and calm my breathing so I could think straight was much harder than I thought it would be. But once the sobs subsided, I pulled away from Stefan's arms and looked up at him through watery eyes.

"Get Jeremy and Elena out of here," I told him.

"No," Elena protested, coming over to my side. "Stefan, take Jeremy back to my house. We'll meet you back there."

Stefan didn't even look over at Elena but he nodded his head at her request. His eyes stayed connected with mine while he slowly backed up and grabbed Jeremy carefully by his arm. Stefan pulled his gaze away from my eyes and reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone while he walked away with Jeremy.

Elena placed a hand on my shoulder and gave it a squeeze but I shrugged it off. I was so upset right now and I didn't want anyone to coddle me.

"What—" She cut me off before I could continue.

"Listen, Riley," Elena said. "It's not what it looks like."

"Then what is it, Elena?" I screamed at her. I was upset, angered, and worried about all that had taken place tonight. "Because it sure just looks like Stefan staked Vicki when she was attacking you!"

"Vicki wasn't Vicki," Elena explained.

"I know she was a vampire, but still," I shouted. "Stefan just killed Matt's older sister."

"How do you know about vampires?" Elena asked, confused.

"Stefan told me just like he told you probably," I said in a slightly angered tone. I didn't know how else to respond to what was going on so I chose to put up the angry front.

"When did he tell you?" Elena asked.

"This isn't the important matter here, Elena!" I yelled. "Vicki Donovan is _dead_!"

"Look, Riley, she was hurting Jeremy and she started to attack me," Elena said. "I couldn't let her go on hurting people."

I shook my head, telling her to stop talking. I didn't want to hear it anymore.

"You two should go," a familiar voice said from behind us. Elena and I turned around and saw Damon standing behind us. "I got this."

"You did this," Elena accused him. "This is your fault."

"You confuse me for someone with remorse," Damon said in a bland tone while looking down at the lifeless body of Vicki Donovan.

Elena shook her head and rammed her hands into Damon's shoulders, trying to push him back. But he didn't budge. If anything, it looked as if it made Damon more pissed off than what he usually is. Elena brought her hand up to slap him but Damon caught her hand and held it in front of her while she struggled to pull her hand free.

"None of this matters to me," Damon said, releasing her hand. "None of it."

I was frozen in fear and I couldn't move to help Elena. I wasn't scared of Damon Salvatore; at least not in this moment. I was scared of what we would have to say to Matt and everyone else. I didn't want to lie to their faces. I just wanted this all to go away and go back to normal.

"People die around you," Elena spat at Damon. "How could it not matter? It matters, and you know it."

She reached her hand up again and was successful this time, slapping Damon right across the cheek. I noticed his jaw tightened and I feared for Elena. But she remained brave and I wondered how long her bravado would last.

"You need to leave," he said to her. "Your wounds are bleeding, and _you need to leave._"

Elena tilted her chin up in the air and stormed off, leaving me alone with Damon and Vicki's corpse.

"What did Elena mean by 'you did this'?" I asked Damon.

His ice cold gaze flickered down to me but I didn't flinch. The older Salvatore narrowed his eyes at me and took a step closer to me.

"You should be grateful that you are still alive," Damon hissed. "I could have snapped your neck last night if Saint Stefan didn't get there when he did."

"I don't understand you, Damon," I said, pushing all of my fears to the side. I needed to be brave like Elena was just minutes ago. I needed to set boundaries with this man. "You just kill for the fun of it. What made you like that? What could have possibly screwed with your head so much that you turned into this monster?"

"Don't even pretend for a minute that you know _anything _about what I have been through," Damon snapped. "I have been through more than one could take in _three _lifetimes."

Screw the boundaries, they were going to have to be saved for another time. Damon was making me angry, upset, and scared all at once. I shook my head and walked away from Damon, heading to my house.

* * *

_"Call me when you get this, Riley. I need to know what happened to you. I can't find Vicki anywhere and I don't know what's going on."_

I ended the third voicemail that Matt had left me and walked up my porch slowly, but stopped when I saw Stefan sitting on the bench right next to my front door.

_Just be strong, Riley,_ I told myself. _Don't let yesterday be a repeat. Hold it all together. You are strong and you need to show him that. _

"Are you okay?" I asked him as I stood at the top of my porch steps.

Stefan pushed himself off of the bench and walked over to me, tucking his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket.

"I, uh – I wanted to help her," Stefan said with anger and sorrow strewn across his face. Right now, in this moment, I completely pushed aside the fact that he was a vampire and all I saw was a hurt boy standing in front of me and my heart broke into an even smaller piece. I wanted to reach out and pull him into a hug and take him back but I knew that I couldn't let my emotions control me. I had to do what was right for my friends and I – and that was keep Stefan away. "But instead, uh…"

Stefan nodded his head in disappointment and he couldn't even look me in the eye and tell me what he was feeling. He rocked back on his heels and turned, walking back over to the bench.

I followed him and sat down next to him, tossing my props down on the floor near the front door.

"How long is this going to go on for?" I asked, catching Stefan's attention. He looked up at me and shook his head. "Because I don't know how much longer I can take people dying and then having to lie to my friends about what really happened."

"I don't know, but I promise that it's not going to be like this forever," Stefan said.

"After all of this I don't know why but I trust you, Stefan," I said after debating on speaking for a few seconds. "I don't want to, but I do. I don't want to remember anything after the car wash. I just want to go back to when I didn't know what you were. I want to go back to when I was happy and when I wasn't lying to my friends."

I looked over at Stefan and saw him nod his head while he sucked his lips into his mouth.

"I don't want to feel the way I do towards you. But that's never going to change and that scares me more than anything."

Stefan looked up at me and I could see his eyes darken with added sorrow.

"I made some really stupid decisions last night, Stefan," I told him. "I wish I could take them back, but I can't. This is what it has to be like. I have to protect my friends."

He sat there, motionless. I let out a sigh and brought my face towards his and pressed a soft kiss on his cheek, needing the comfort of the action, before I got up from the bench and opened the front door of my house and kicked the props on the floor in.

I turned back to him and gave him a sad smile while tears brimmed my eyes.

"Goodnight, Stefan," I said in a whisper, knowing that he could hear me.

"Goodnight, Riley," he replied with a smile just as equally as sad as mine.

I turned away from him and walked into my house, closing the door behind me before locking it. Trudging up the stairs, I passed my mom's room and walked into my bedroom, flopping down on the bed.

Something was really wrong with me.

Stefan was no longer the monster that I was scared of but he was the boy that I was scared of. I couldn't deny everything that I was feeling because it was too strong. He wasn't a monster to me anymore. Tonight, I had seen what he would do to protect people firsthand and even though it was truly terrible, it showed that he cared and that made all the more difference in my feelings towards him.

I squeezed my eyes shut and bit my bottom lip.

It seems as though I was losing my marbles and they were all rolling towards one vampire I couldn't keep away from.

* * *

**Okay, so that's the end of the road for that chapter. **

**Hope you enjoyed. **

**Thanks for everything.**

**-NS1918 xoxo**


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